Darkened Sun
by Lady Spritzy
Summary: When a cure for a cancer-like disease doesn't work, its creator goes nuts and takes revenge on the people of Station Square. Note: AU, char death, zombies.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Shadow's mother Melissa led him through the funeral home to where his older sister lay. The casket was open so the twelve-year-old girl's face could be easily seen.

"Why is Maria sleeping here, mama?" the seven-year-old hedgehog asked his mother.

The older hedgehog sighed, letting go of her son's hand to rub her head with her own hand. After a moment of silence, Melissa looked down into her son's ruby eyes with her own gray ones and answered, "You know how your big sister's been sick lately?" Shadow nodded. "Well, she needs to rest for longer than she normally would. A lot longer."

"Okay," Shadow said as a few tears slipped down from his mother's face. This worried the young hedgehog, so he asked innocently, "What's wrong, mama?"

Melissa bit her lower lip and grimaced as she looked down at the golden hedgehog girl who lay in the casket in front of her. Her daughter had been taken down by some disease that the doctors had never seen before, and both Melissa and her husband Thomas had agreed not to let their daughter be cut up for medical reasons: they weren't going to get anything out of it other than a tampered-with corpse, so they opted for not.

"Nothing that won't heal with time," Melissa said, leading Shadow to the benches where they would sit through the service.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Shadow stood tall in front of his sister's grave. It had been fifteen years since the girl had died, but theblack hedgehog had never gotten over her death. His younger brothers Sonic and Silver, who were twins, stood behind him as he looked down at the grave.

The onyx-colored had long since learned that his sister was not 'sleeping' , but had died, buried so deep that her dark, sapphire eyes would never see the blue sky again.

"Shadow?" asked Sonic, noticing the tears coming to his older brother's eyes.

"No, it's okay," Shadow replied, closing his eyes tightly and walking away from where his sister lay for eternity.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Sonic asked, the stronger of the twins.

"I don't know, but I hope so," Silver replied, being the smarter of the two.

The pair of thirteen-year-olds looked up to notice that their brother had not noticed that they were not following him, and dashed over to Shadow. 

"Wait up, big brother," both of them called, and Shadow turned around, his face streaked with tears. That did not stop Sonic and Silver, who ran up to their brother and practically knocked him to the ground with the force of their combined hug.

When the younger hedgehogs let go, Silver looked up to Shadow and said, "No more crying, or I'll make you regret it, okay?"

Shadow looked at his younger brothers, then smiled gently, "Okay, I won't cry again. Ever."

XXX

Jet and Wave walked side-by-side down the street, their hands intertwined like all young couples. They were a strange couple, at that, as usually hawks and swallows didn't really get along, but the two loved each other like most teenagers.

They were headed over towards their friend Storm's house, whose mom didn't mind the two coming over as much as they did. In fact, Storm was the kind of nerd that most people didn't like to hang around because he could sometimes be a showoff about it.

"And here we are," Jet said, knocking lightly on the door. It opened after a second of bustling behind the door, and a large, light blue albatross opened the door.

"Hello," she said, "Storm's up in his room, playing some games on his Gamecube or whatever."

"Thanks, Mrs. A," Wave said, dragging Jet up the stairs in a playful fashion, Storm's mother sighing as she watched the two young lovers.

"I hope Storm can find a young girl like Jet has," she muttered gently.

"Hey, Storm," Jet said as the couple entered the giant albatross's room. He had a Wii-mote in his large hands, and he practically glared at the TV in front of him.

"Having trouble?" Wave asked tauntingly, sitting on the edge of Storm's bed.

"I can't kill this fucking boss," Storm growled angrily.

"What do you have to do?" Jet asked, standing behind his giant of a friend.

"Kill this guy, what do you think?"

"Can I try?" Wave asked suddenly, her eyes sparking as she watched her gray-colored friend fight the boss. 

"No, he's mine," Storm muttered, trying the boss again. He failed once more, then roared aloud, "Raaaaaaahh! Damn Wekser!"

"That the boss?" Jet asked.

"No, it's the character I'm playing as."

"And you're getting your ass kicked by a guy in ski gear?" Wave asked, getting off the bed and walking over to the chair where Storm sat. "C'mon, let me try!" she said, reaching for the controller, but Storm yanked it away from her, and she fell over the arm of the chair, falling face-first onto Storm, letting out a small yelp as she fell.

Jet helped his girlfriend up gently, then punched Storm playfully, and said, "Awww, what could the harm be, bud? Just let her try."

"Fine," Storm said reluctantly, handing the swallow the Wii-mote that he didn't think she'd be able to handle.

The girl then looked grimly on toward the screen, watching the cutscene play though, the controller held lightly in her hand. The boss ran for her virtual character, fist raised high in the air to punch. Wave didn't give him the chance to strike, as she unloaded her virtual handgun into his arm, making him call off his main assault.

After a relatively short and repetitive fight including a handgun, a semi-automatic, and a rocket launcher, by the look of it, the boss fell on the young swallow girl's first try.

"How'd you-" Storm started to asked with a baffled expression on his face.

"Practice. My brother got this game not too long ago, and I've been playing a little too," Wave answered with a grin.

XXX

Blaze walked slowly down the street, her two adopted siblings Cream and Tails following along after. Tails had a small, handheld computer in his hands as he walked along. Cream held nothing, but that would soon be remedied, as her big sister was getting her a pet for her ninth birthday. The present was actually from her parents, but since both of them were working, they had given their biological daughter one-hundred bucks to get Cream a pet with.

They got to the local pet shop, and stepped inside, Cream squealing with delight as she looked at all of the animals around her. She spent awhile looking at all the adorable little animals, dragging Blaze by the hand through the store, Tails walking behind as he stared intently at the small screen in front of him.

Finally, Cream stopped to look at the baby Chao that the store had, her eyes growing wider and wider as her eyes moved from Chao to Chao. Finally, the little girl stopped and pointed to a Chao that looked like all of the others, squealing happily, "I want that one!"

Blaze smiled and nodded, waving over one of the clerks that worked at the store.

"My little sister wants one of the Chao," Blaze explained.

"Okay, then," said the clerk, leaning down to Cream's level, "All right then, little girl, which one do you want?"

"That one!" Cream cried happily, pointing again to the Chao that she had picked.

"Uh," the clerk said, scratching his head, "Are you sure you want _that_ one?"

"Uh-huh!" Cream confirmed.

"What's the matter with it?" Blaze asked as he went to fish the Chao out.

"Well, this one here has some weird disease, and we're not sure he'll live too much longer."

"Oh," Blaze said, then she leaned down to Cream and said, "The man says he not so sure that Chao'll be too good for you, Cream. Can you pick out another one?"

"I don't know," Cream said downheartedly, looking at the floor.

"C'mon Cream," Tails piped up, "I don't want you to cry if this Chao runs away like the last pet. If the guy says that a different Chao would be better, I think he knows what he's doing."

Cream thought about what her adopted brother had said for a second, knowing that his advice was always good, then nodded.

"Okay," the young rabbit said, looking over the Chao again. One in the back caught her eye. "That one in the back," Cream said, pointing to it.

"Okay, I think that one would be great for you," said the clerk as he put down the sickly Chao and grabbed the second choice of Cream's.

"I'm going to call him Cheese," Cream said happily as the trio walked down the street. Blaze didn't object to this; she figured that as long as Cream was happy with her pet, it was fine with her.

"Thanks for the save, Tails," Blaze whispered into the fox's ear as they walked up the steps to their house.

"No problem, sis. I heard what the man said and figured that Cream didn't need a different pet within the month," Tails replied to his older sister, stepping into the house.

XXX

Knuckles and Espio ran as hard as they could, two female cops hard on their tails. One of the cops was a bat, her hard, cyan eyes staring down any one who got in her way. The other was a pink hedgehog, having no trouble keeping up with the bat beside her.

The two thieves, who were quite famous around town, knew the city like the back of their hands, which could also be said for Rouge the Bat. Amy, however, had become a police officer not that long before, and did not have the kind of experience that her partner did.

"You're not getting away this time," screeched Amy, panting hard. Rouge, however, knew better than to waste her breath until the criminal was caught. She knew she would have to teach her young, enthusiastic partner to calm down, but then was not the time.

When the two thieves had started to slow down, Rouge took to the air, buffeting the purple chameleon to the ground. As Amy was about to pass him, Rouge yelled as she turned a corner, "Grab him! I'll get the other." 

Rouge didn't wait for her partner's reply, she just went straight for Knuckles. She barely had time to watch him dash into an alleyway so that she could still follow him. She soared higher, gliding to where she had seen the thief disappear. 

As she entered the alleyway, Rouge did not see the thief, so she looked on top of the roofs, but found nothing, so she landed carefully, looking around the alley. Finding nothing of interest, she walked off to help Amy with the chameleon thief that she had caught.

When Rouge had finally gone, Knuckles came out of a small, hidden room he had hidden in through a small, partly-hidden manhole, glad the cops knew it led to nowhere.

XXX

Doctor Robotnik walked proudly through halls of his HQ in Station Square. He was walking to a press conference about the cure for the 'Infinitus Nox' Syndrome as it had come to be known over the past fifteen years. 

The Doctor knew lots about the disease- practically everything there was to know. The two most deadly things about the virus that caused the syndrome was that it slowed the host's breathing and heart rate so much that the host inevitably dies because lack of oxygen to the body and brain, and the fact that while blood cells could do nothing to the virus.

Dr. Robotnik stepped out of the building and headed straight for the tall podium that stood at the top of the stairs that led up to the headquarters of the building he had left. In front of the Doctor stood many different news crews, all of which started to squabble like crows when the man came to the podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the CEO of Solaris Inc. said to the large group of reporters, all of which quickly ceased talking when his friendly voice boomed out, "I am here today to introduce a ray of light to the darkness of the disease known as 'Infinitus Nox'.As all of you may have heard over the past years, Solaris Inc. has been working on a special cure for the deadly disease which started to appear fifteen years ago. I started working on a cure around nine years ago when my grandfather fell to the disease. And now I'm sure he'd be proud to call me his grandson."

Here the Doctor came to a pause, and the crowd broke into an uproar once again as many of the different reporters demanded the Doctor explain himself. Robotnik held up his hands for silence, and pointed to one of the reporters.

"Mr. Robotnik, what exactly does the cure do?" the reporter asked, looking expectantly at Robotnik. Though the Doctor didn't show it, he thought to himself, _Dammit, I didn't go through years of medical school to be called 'Mister'._

"The 'Infinitus Sol' virus is meant to destroy the 'Infinitus Nox' virus by destroying it like the white blood cells should. It also has rehabilitation properties that help the person get stronger faster."

"Sir, are there any side affects?" asked the second reporter that the Doctor addressed.

"No major side affects other thanfeeling a little weak for a few days, but after that, the patient should be up and about in no time."

"Are you sure this work, Doctor?" asked one of the reporters out of turn. 

Robotnik turned to face the lady raccoon and replied, "Why don't I just show you?" He turned his attention to one of his aides off to the side, "Can you bring Miss Abby out?" The aide nodded, and strode quickly away, walking back with a girl in blue jeans and a bright-yellow T-shirt. She was happy and confident, and she practically skipped over to Doctor Robotnik.

Abby gave the Doctor a big hug, and he hugged the little girl back, picking her up in his arms.

"Abby," the Doctor asked the girl as he put her down, "can you tell the people here how old you are?"

The girl turned her emerald eyes to the audience, stood on her tip-toes so that she could see over the podium, and brightly said, "I'm twelve-and-a-half-years-old!"

"And when were you diagnosed with 'Infinitus Nox'?" asked Robotnik.

"Seven," replied Abby with pure sorrow in her eyes, "Mommy said I was going to sleep soon, and for a really long time."

Several people from the crowd gasped at this: the poor child was going to be dead like so many others before her.

"And then what happened?" Doctor Robotnik inquired.

"But then mommy said that I was going to be okay. She said that a nice man had offered to help me get better. I wasn't sure at first, but then mommy said that I wouldn't have to sleep for longer than I normally had to, and so I tried it. And now I feel much better!"

The crowd clapped loudly, happy for the Doctor's- and Abby's- success.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter **2

Doctor Robotnik's cure didn't work for most others like it did for Abby. People started to die from 'Infinitus Nox' at an even faster rate than the virus originally had. He was accused for the death of many children and young adults from angry family members. Solaris Inc. stocks crashed, and the company was destroyed.

A year after the 'cure' had been completely taken off the shelves, and people were dead in the ground, from the effects of both viruses, the Doctor was still determined to help people. Unfortunately, he had gone nuts from the complete destruction of his company. He secretly set the virus out into the air of Station Square, where his headquarters had been, but it was a different strand- a stronger one.

XXX

Shadow stood at the grave of his sister once again, another year since her death passed again. The black hedgehog was visiting for the weekend from college, so Silver and Sonic were with him.

The trio had stood in front of the grave for what Sonic thought was forever. He didn't really mind, but he'd rather spend his small amount of time with his older brother playing instead of standing in a graveyard. As he stood there, he subconsciously noticed small tremors under his feet, but didn't really register them.

After a while, however, the tremors started to get worse, so much that Silver started to get worried and asked, "Big brother, what's that shaking?"

"I don't know," Shadow replied, "but I don't plan to find out."

The black hedgehog started to walk quickly away, his younger brothers following him as fast as they could. The trio walked swiftly, not noticing that people were starting to fall in the streets, unable to breathe: They were too frightened from the tremors in the graveyard to realize.

When the three of them got home, Shadow called out, "Yo, mom, dad! We're back."

"Shadow, come here, quick! I think your father's having a heart attack," Melissa cried from the kitchen. The black hedgehog dashed in to see his father unconscious on the floor. He dropped down to his father's side and held his hand up for the phone. Silver realized what his older brother wanted and quickly handed Shadow his cell.

Shadow dialed 911 on the phone, but when he placed it to his head, he was met with a busy tone. "Dammit," he growled, clicking his brother's phone shut. He put two of his fingers on his father's throat to check for a pulse. After a second of waiting, there was a faint beat, and Shadow sighed a little.

"Try nine-one-one again," Sonic suggested, worry on his face.

"Yeah," Silver agreed as Shadow opened the phone again. Unfortunately, the black hedgehog was unsuccessful again.

"What the hell's going on over there?" Shadow growled as he tried several more times to contact emergency services.

"Shadow, he's gone," Melissa said, checking her husband for a pulse. Tears fell freely from her eyes as she hovered over her husband's body.

"Mom?" Sonic and Silver asked in unison, coming over to comfort their mother. Shadow looked gravely at the body of his father, but clung to the promise that he had made to his younger brothers and did not cry.

"Another one gone," Melissa sobbed as she cried on her sons' shoulders. After a few minutes, Silver and Sonic had convinced their mother to go and sit in the living room while Shadow took his father's body up to his parent's room.

As he laid the body on the bed, Shadow thought he saw his father twitch. The black hedgehog leaned over to check for a pulse, but didn't find any.

"Hopeful thoughts," he growled to himself as he turned to leave. A creak from the bed sounded behind him, and he whipped around to see his father starting to get up. However, as the black hedgehog looked at his father, he noticed that something was wrong. Where there should have been a pupil, there was only iris. Also, his father's walk was slumped and irregular: Normally, the older hedgehog was tall and bold when he walked.

"Dad?" Shadow asked as he started to back away. Thomas the hedgehog whipped around at the noise and started to walk in the direction of Shadow. The black hedgehog whipped around and dashed down the stairs into the living room.

"Mom, I think we should leave," Shadow said.

"Why?" Melissa asked, still crying.

"You don't want to find out," Shadow replied, trying to help his mother up.

"Hey!" Silver cried, pointing behind Shadow. The black hedgehog whipped around to see his father walking up.

"Thomas?" Melissa asked, getting up and walking towards her husband's reanimated corpse.

"No, mom!" Shadow barked, trying to pull his entranced mother away. Melissa ripped her arm away from her oldest son and continued walking towards the walking corpse.

"What's wrong with mom?" Sonic asked, looking up to Shadow. The twins had realized that something was wrong with their father.

"I think she's in shock," Shadow said as their mother made it to their father.

As Melissa made to hug Thomas, the male hedgehog bit deep into her shoulder and she screamed in pain.

"Mom!" Silver yelled as the reanimated corpse bit once more into their mother. He tried to run forward, but Shadow grabbed him and pulled him back.

"We need to leave," Shadow growled to his little brothers, hurrying out of the house with Sonic and Silver in tow.

XXX

Blaze stood silently in shock as she saw a man drop in the street in front of her. She went over to his side and checked for a pulse. Finding none, she whipped out her cell and tried to dial for help, but to no avail.

"That's weird," the cat said gently, her brow furrowed as she looked at the cell in puzzlement. She tried again and again, but was unable to reach help.

After a moment, the man's eyes flicked open, and Blaze sighed in relief.

"Whoo, you had me scared for a moment there, buddy," Blaze said as she went to help the man up. As soon as she saw him, however, she ripped her hand away. The man had no pupils- only irises. The cat got up and started to back away, and the man got up and sniffed the air.

"Are you okay?" Blaze asked, and the man turned slowly around to face her. He advanced with an awkward gait, scaring Blaze all the more. "You're getting too close, bud," the cat said as the man got closer.

When he was within striking range, Blaze lashed out with a fist, striking the man right between the eyes, then ran off towards her home.

As the lavender cat started to dash up the steps to her home, both Tails and Cream came dashing out the door. The little rabbit girl was sobbing uncontrollably as she squeezed Cheese in her arms, and the young fox had a shocked look on his face.

"What happened?" Blaze asked, dropping to her knees by her younger siblings.

"Mom and dad just dropped to the floor," Tails said, "Then, when they got up a few minutes later, they looked weird. And they tried to bite Cream and I."

"What?" Blaze asked, standing up to go see what was going on.

"Don't go in there," Cream said quickly, grabbing her sister by the hand.

"But-" Blaze said.

"No," Tails said forcefully, grabbing his sister's other hand, "If something happened to you, we wouldn't have anyone to take care of us."

"But mom and dad," the cat said feebly, looking towards the door.

"What about us?" Cream asked, looking innocently at her older sister. Blaze grimaced. When her younger sister gave her that look, she couldn't resist the little rabbit.

Blaze sighed, then turned around and said, "Fine. We'll go crash with Marine for a while. How's that sound?"

"Okay," Tails and Cream said in unison.

XXX

Wave leaned down to check for a pulse as Jet ran downstairs to get Storm's mom. Her albatross friend had had suddenly stopped breathing and dropped, unconscious, to the floor. Her friend's pulse was faint, and Wave sighed a sigh of relief.

"Wave?" Jet called up the stairs.

"What?" Wave asked, picking up the worry in Jet's voice.

"The same thing happened to her, too."

"Can you call nine-one-one? I've got a pulse up here, but not really."

"I've tried that," Jet replied, "but I've only got the busy tone."

"Try again: I think he's not going to make it!" Wave yelled, sinking to her knees and starting to do CPR. After a few minutes of this, she checked Storm's pulse, but didn't feel anything.

"Wave," Jet said, standing in the door, a worried expression on his face, "She'd dead."

"So is he," Wave said, looking down at her friend and crying. Jet came over and sat down beside her, hugging her tightly and letting her cry into his chest. Jet looked down on his friend's body and shed a single tear for his friend. He ignored it and breathed deeply, willing himself not to cry, for Wave's sake.

"Wave," Jet said, getting up quickly and backing away from Storm, "we need to go."

"Why?" the swallow asked, looking up to Jet, then ripping her head around to see what he stared at behind her. "Oh my God," she gasped gently, stumbling to her feet and walking over to Jet while she stared at Storm. The albatross had risen and started to stumble toward them with more clumsiness than he usually did. That added with the fact that Storm no longer had pupils terrified the hawk and the sparrow.

Jet recovered from his shock first and charged down the stairs, pulling Wave along with him. As the pair came into the living room of their friend's house, a large, light-blue albatross stumbled towards them, pupil-less just like her son.

"Jet, I'm scared," Wave said, grabbing Jet close.

"We'll get through this, just don't let go of me," Jet whispered gently to her, waiting for the risen version of his friend's mom to get close, then he darted around her, Wave grabbing him tightly.

When the lucky couple made it safely outside, Wave brought her beak out of her boyfriend's emerald colored feathers.

"Oh God," she mumbled, looking around as more creatures like the ones inside her friend's house started to approach them.

"We should go, shouldn't we?" Wave asked with a terrorized tremor in her voice.

"Yeah," Jet replied, taking off away from the undead, Wave right beside him.

XXX

"Get back!" demanded Amy strongly, her gun aimed at the knee of a black wolf. Rouge and she had been dealing with these people for most of the day. Amy didn't trust the look of the peoples eyes and clumsy gaits.

Rouge was a little calmer than her partner, but still a little scared. Even when they had shot the people in the legs, arms, and even stomachs, but they would not drop. Rouge decided to take a different approach, even if it might get her fired.

"Go for the heads," Rouge commanded, aiming for a the head of a female armadillo. She shot straight, and right when the bullet made contact with the armadillo's head, it collapsed.

"Rouge," Amy cried out in alarm, looking to her partner.

"They obviously mean us harm, so I plan on keeping myself alive, Amy," the bat snapped, her icy eyes piercing through her partner.

"Okay," Amy said, bound to listen to her superior as she shot the wolf she had been aiming at right between the eyes.

The two cops fought hard, wasting as little bullets as possible while taking down the endless group of people.

They then ran out of bullets.

"Shit," Rouge growled, patting herself down in a desperate search for more ammunition, Amy following suit.

"I got none," Amy replied, looking up to face the people that were closing in. "We're fucked."

"No you're not, if you're willing to make a deal," a male voice said from the ground behind the two ladies. Rouge and Amy whipped around to see the familiar face of the thief Knuckles as his head poked out of a manhole like a mole looking out of his hole.

"Come to kill us?" Amy snarled.

"No. I've come to help," the echidna replied.

"Here's our answer, n-" Amy started.

"Shut it," Rouge said sharply, her eyes still forward on the approaching people, "What'dya want, Knuckles."

"Firepower and more people to keep lookout. You help keep us alive, and we'll do the same."

"We?" asked Rouge.

"Me'n'Espio."

"We've got no ammo," Amy said.

"We have some," a voice called up from below Knuckles.

"'Kay then," Rouge said, backing towards the hole.

"No way in hell," Amy said, her feet planted firmly.

"Hmph. Amy, you ever hear the line, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend, until my enemy is dead'?" Rouge asked halfway in the manhole.

"No."

"It means swallow your pride unti-"

Rouge's comment was cut off by Amy's high pitched shriek as one of the people in the crowd bit deeply into her leg. The pink hedgehog dropped the gun, and Rouge lunged for it. More of the mob started to come closer to the manhole, and Rouge quickly shut it, leaving Amy up with the masses.

"You left your friend?" Espio asked out of the darkness. Though the bat couldn't see very well yet, she could easily use her echo-location to swap her ears for her eyes.

"She'd already been downed. We'd probably be in the same state if I hadn't closed it when I did."

"We should head away from here," Knuckles said, grabbing Rouge's hand and leading her through the semi-dark that her eyes were quickly adjusting to.

"Your partner is very stubborn," Espio commented from beside the bat.

"And her ass-like qualities were her downfall," Rouge said. The bat had never really liked the young, pink hedgehog. Amy had never really wanted to listen to good, _informed _advice, and she sure as hell didn't listen to orders. Rouge had filed several times for a different partner for the past year and a half, but to no avail: It was like her superiors were bound and determined to kill the bat via crappy partner after crappy partner.

But the likeliness of all of her bosses surviving whatever _plague _had descended upon Station Square were very slim.

_Good thing I'm not one for religion,_ Rouge thought grimly to herself as she ran through the dim sewers with the two thieves, _Because then I'd be on a one-way trip straight to Hell._


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Cream rested one of her small hands against a building. Panting hard and bent double, she looked up to see Tails clutching his sides and wincing in pain. Blaze, used to running track at her high school, only breathed a little deeper. Cheese sat atop the little rabbit's head, looking worriedly down at his master.

"Chao chao? -_Are you okay?-_ " he asked.

Cream, who understood him perfectly, replied in between breaths, "I'm… okay, Cheese.… Really, … I am."

Blaze pulled out her cell and speed-dialed her friend Marine. The young raccoon always had her cell on her, so Blaze was surprised when her friend didn't pick up the phone. After several tries, she gave up.

"Now what?" Cream asked worriedly, scared that Blaze had been unable to reach Marine.

"Do… you think… we… lost… 'em?" Tails asked before Blaze could answer Cream, panting just as hard- if not harder- than his adopted little sister.

"Probably," Blaze replied, "But I don't think we'll be safe for too long. They seem extremely persistent. Maybe we should try going some where high, where they won't be able to reach us."

"Chao! -_No!_-" Cheese shrieked loudly, his little, black eyes staring at Blaze with a strange intensity.

The lavender colored cat had been around the Chao long enough to understand him, as had Tails, and knew she could easily hold a conversation with the intelligent creature, so she asked, "Why not, Cheese?"

"Chao chao chao? Cha cha cha chao chao? Cha chao, cha chao chao cha cha chao? -_How do we know they can't climb? What if they're really fast when it comes to tree climbing? Besides, did you plan on having us sleep in a tree?_-" Cheese asked relentlessly.

"No, actually," Blaze replied, "I didn't intend on us sleeping in trees. I meant in the higher floors of a building. But you prove a good point: we don't know what those people are made of. If we do something foolish, we could end up in a world of trouble."

"Wouldn't stairs be easier to climb than tree branches?" Tails asked suddenly, his young, intelligent mind sparked by Blaze'-and-Cheese's conversation.

"I guess," Blaze said slowly, trying to figure out where Tails was going with his idea.

"And those things don't seem to be very coordinated, right?" The young fox was getting a gleam of pure inspiration in his eyes, one that sometimes scared Blaze.

"Yeah," Blaze agreed at length, the young fox's idea starting to dawn on her. _Sleep in the trees, _she thought to herself, _I understand that much. But there aren't that many trees in Station Square, and the only place nearby is…_

"Oh no," Blaze said out loud.

"It's the only place I can think of right now," Tails said, downhearted at his sister's response to his idea.

"How are we going to get there, huh? We're out of cash, so we can't pay for tickets, _assuming_ the train's even _running_."

"We could take a boat. It's only about a ten-minute boat ride," Tails countered quickly, staring Blaze down.

"What about Marine?" Cream asked gently, tugging at the hem of Blaze's tank top.

"Marine can take care of herself," Blaze said after a second of thought. It pained her to even think of leaving one of her best friends behind, but the lavender cat had two children to take care of, and she didn't want to risk them getting injured.

"No, we're not going to leave her behind," Cream said firmly, looking her older sister in the eyes.

After a few moments, Blaze wore down under the young rabbit's gaze, sighed, and said reluctantly, "Fine, let's go get Marine."

XXX

After what seemed like hours of sloshing around in the foul sewers, Rouge saw light. The trio walked forward until they came out of the underground and into a forest. The bat looked back and realized that the aperture though which they had just come was drainage for the sewers into a natural stream.

"Where does that stream lead?" Rouge asked Knuckles.

"Straight into the river that just happens to be the Station Square water reservoir," the echidna replied bitterly. The bat looked sideways at him to make sure he wasn't joking. It didn't look like he was.

"That's disgusting," Rouge said, appalled.

Espio started to laugh at the bat-cop. "That's what those bureaucrat bastards you work for don't want you to know: that you're drinking water that you one flushed down the can."

"But they treat it," Rouge said, trying hard not to be disgusted, but failing miserably.

"Yeah," Knuckles agreed, "But you see, Mother Nature treats it better. Water's been naturally purified for millions of years, but you think we can come along and do it better? Fuck no, _that's _never going to be the case."

Rouge was at a lost for words. She thought these thieves uneducated, but they had just made a very valid point.

"What do you _really _want from me?" Rouge asked. She didn't think these two would have saved her and brought her all the way out here just to show her the problem with the water. And she sure as hell knew that if they wanted to kill her, they would have done it in the sewers when it would've been a lot more secretive.

"You're smart enough to see through the guise, then, huh?" Espio asked, sounding more than just a little surprised.

"Yeah, I am," Rouge snapped, "So just cut the shit and get to the point."

"Fine," Knuckles said, walking away, "We came to see Dust-on-Wind. She's pretty smart about magic and stuff. Maybe she'll know why the dead are walkin' around Station Square."

"Magic? Why the Hell would you believe in magic?" the bat asked skeptically as she stopped and turned to stare at Knuckles, stubbornly refusing to follow him unless he gave her some better answers. The red echidna-thief whipped around and glared at her with his lavender eyes.

"When you live like we do, you'd understand better," he growled through clenched teeth, growing increasingly angrier at the bat-cop's stubborn close-mindedness.

Knuckles then turned on his heel and trod off along a path that only the thieves in the area knew, angry thoughts running through his mind like competitors in a fun-run.

_I'll take her,_ he heard the Mage saying in his mind, _but only if you find your greatest enemy and lead them here. Some eyes need to be opened, and the newly-sighted may like what they see._

_Huh, I sure as hell don't like what I'm seeing,_ he thought, _Not at all._

XXX

"Wave?" Jet asked softly, his voice lightly echoing through his girlfriend's empty house. The two anthropomorphic teens had arrived at Jet's house first, to find it void of life with signs of struggle in the all of the rooms on the ground level, and one of the bedrooms on the second floor. When the teens had come to Wave's home, they found practically the same thing.

Wave dropped to the floor, staring at the wreckage in pure disbelief. After the young swallow finally got over the initial shock, she buried her beak in her hands and desperate sobs racked her slim frame.

Jet dropped to the floor beside and hugged her hard, shushing her gently like a mother does her young.

"They're all ga-ha-ha-hann!" Wave sobbed, burying her face in Jet's chest feathers, "Gone, and they'll never come ba-ha-hack!" After a few moments, the lavender swallow's loud, disturbing sobs shrank into small sniffles and silent tears shed into the jade hawk's chest.

When Jet was sure that Wave was fairly calm, he looked around to take stock of the situation. He did not like what he saw. While the undead outside passed the house that they were in, and the door was closed, he felt uneasy, like the calm before a storm.

"Wave," he whispered in her ear, and she looked up, her scared, greenish-blue eyes staring into his cyan ones.

"We need to leave, don't we?" Wave asked, starting to rise.

"Yeah," Jet replied, getting up and starting for the door.

"Wait," Wave said, grabbing his arm, making him turn and look into her eyes. All of the fear that had been there seconds before had disappeared and a different side of the swallow had risen to the surface: a side that only came out when the girl played video games on the sly, when she acted like she was the characters she played. "We need to find some way to defend ourselves. I know where some guns are in here: In fact, I know the combo to the lock. Do you know how to shoot a hunting rifle?"

"I-I d-don't know, Wave," Jet stammered, surprised at her sudden conviction.

"Do you know how to shoot a fucking hunting rifle or not?" she practically screamed, heedless of the undead watching them.

"No," Jet said quickly, looking nervously through the windows at the zombies outside.

"Fine, I'll shoot for both of us, and give _you_ a crash course," Wave said, disappearing down the stairs. A moment later, she came up with two hunting rifles in her hands, and a backpack sagged on her shoulders.

"Here," the swallow said, handing her boyfriend one of the guns, "Be careful where you point it, because _it is loaded_. I don't know if you realize that that weapon can injure you, but it can, and if you act like a jackass, it _will_."

"You don't need to give me the fucking lecture, Wave," Jet said moodily, "I already know it's dangerous."

"Well, Jet," Wave snapped, "Sometimes, with the way _you_ act, I thought I'd run you through the same speech _I _got when _I _started handling guns." The swallow turned, and headed toward the basement once more, where the back door was, and as they headed down the stairs, she said to him without turning, "I don't think you realized this yet, Jet, but this isn't a fucking video game. Those things out there mean us harm, and I know _I_ want to live."

Without another word, the avian duo slipped out the back door.

XXX

Shadow brought his foot up and kicked out hard, turning the smooth glass in the door of the gun shop into sharp, jagged teeth. The onyx colored hedgehog winced as one of the pieces sliced through his skin while he quickly withdrew his foot. He then stepped through the hole and entered the shop.

"Hello?" he called, although he was sure no one was there, since the door had been locked.

"Shadow, why are we here?" Silver asked, looking sheepishly around the store. The young, platinum hedgehog hated guns with a burning passion, and wanted nothing more than to be gone from the place.

"To get some guns to defend ourselves with," Shadow replied, easily hopping over the counter, "Sonic, I'm going to hand you some weapons, and you are _not _going to point them are Silver, _nor_ are you going to play around with them in any way, shape, or form. They're deadly weapons, and I don't want you to get hurt, understand?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic said, waving his hand in a disinterested manner.

"Sonic, this isn't play time; we could really get hurt," Silver said, nervously eyeing the gun Shadow had picked out for his younger brother.

"Oh _yeah_," Sonic said sarcastically, "_This_ speech coming from guy who reads practically ten million books a day."

"At least," the platinum hedgehog replied levelly, "I can separate fun time with serious time."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Sonic asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Will you two _just shut the fuck up!_" Shadow barked suddenly at them, his ruby eyes glaring at them. "This is a bad time for you two to be fighting, got it? Those things out there are large in numbers, and we are few. If we want to live for longer than ten minutes, _you_, Sonic, will stop acting like a little kid and will use that weapon right, and _you_, Silver," Shadow turned to the platinum hedgehog, "are going to learn to shoot. I know you have problems with killing live things, but those creatures out there aren't living any more."

"But-" Silver started.

"No buts," Shadow said, placing several different guns on the counter and hopping over it once more. He came to where Silver stood, and kneeled so that he was eye-to-eye with his little brother, his blacked-furred hands on the silvery-white mane of his brother.

"Silver, I know you hate guns. I understand. But these things are bound to kill all three of us if you don't do your fair share of the work. Do you understand?" Silver nodded his head. "Good. I'll give you a quickie crash course once we're on the move again, but for now, we just need to leave."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Why are we in the ruins?" Rouge asked as she, Knuckles, and Espio stepped into a clearing in the forest. Ahead of her was a pyramid-like structure that seemed even taller than some of the buildings in Station Square.

"_Because_ we're here to see the Mage," Knuckles said irritably, walking up the steps of the pyramid and tracing his way around the side. Rouge followed in the air while Espio followed deftly in the footsteps of his partner. Though the bat was still a little uneasy about traveling with the two thieves, she kept her mouth shut about it, since she didn't want them to think her weak.

As the trio came around the other side, Knuckles removed a small, stone statue from his pack, Espio following suit.

"What are those?" Rouge asked, staring as the two egg-shaped stones atop the statues started to glow. The thieves ignored her, and the statues rose into the air, hovering into place above two square holes cut into the pyramid. The twin statues nestled their bases into the holes, and a rectangle of floor between them sunk away into darkness.

Knuckles turned his lavender eyes around to stare at Rouge.

"Keys," the red echidna said, dropping down the dark hole. Espio followed silently, leaving Rouge outside.

"This is just way too fucked up for me," the bat mumbled to herself as she let herself through the hole.

When the bat landed, she noticed that the ground below her was sandy. She also noticed that there was a pinprick of orange light off to her left. Rouge turned and headed towards the light, but a hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"No," Espio's voice said, "You don't want to be going that way. Dust-on-Wind's stuff all glows greenish-blue. That's a trap for idiotic cops like you." The invisible chameleon tugged her in a different direction. "This," he said, "is the way you want to go. Just follow the sound of my footsteps- I'm sure you'll be able to hear them with those gigantic ears of yours."

Espio released his grip on Rouge's arm, and walked away, his blackened feet shifting the sand enough that Rouge could easily tell where he was.

Though he couldn't see, Espio knew exactly where he was going, since he and Knuckles had seen Dust-on-Wind so many times.

"Where'd Knuckles go? I can't smell him," Rouge said, sniffing the air.

"You could smell him?" Espio asked, surprised. He thought this woman just another stupid cop, but she was quickly proving him wrong.

"Yeah. I've been after you two for so long that I can smell you both from a fair distance. No offence, but you guys both have a very distinctive scent."

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Espio growled, his annoyance with Rouge coming back quickly.

"Hey, I smell him again!" Rouge said, looking forward into the darkness. A faint, glowing light could be seen, and several figures around it. Espio grabbed the eager bat by the arm.

"No," he mumbled, "There's some pretty heavy traps right around Dust-on-Wind's place, cop. Follow me exactly, and you won't get injured."

"Fine, then," Rouge growled back, angry at being treated like a little kid, "Lead the way."

XXX

"Hey," Silver said, pointing across the street, "It's the grocery store. Think we should grab some food?"

"Silv, I'm pretty sure now's not the time to be thinking about food," Sonic scorned.

"Actually," Shadow said, glancing about for any of the zombie-like creatures, "I think we should grab some food real quick, in case we don't come across any later."

"See?" Silver asked triumphantly, sticking his tongue out at his twin. Sonic glared at him, but barely had time to when Shadow grabbed them both by the hand and practically flew across the street to the store. The doors slid obediently open, admitting the three hedgehogs.

"Hmm," Sonic said with a contemplative tone as he glanced back at the doors.

"What is it?" Shadow asked, stopping.

"Shouldn't we do something about those doors?" Sonic asked.

"I don't think we should," Silver said, also stopping and staring at the doors.

"Why not?" Sonic demanded with an indignant tone, his voice rising without his knowing.

Silver looked around nervously, hoping nothing had heard his twin, then replied quietly, "Well, what if there's some of those zombies in here? What if we need to make a quick get away? We should make sure we can escape somehow, right?"

Sonic thought for a second, then hung his head slightly in defeat, avoiding his twin's face. "Let's go," the blue hedgehog mumbled.

"Yeah," Shadow said, hoisting his hunting rifle high up on his shoulder and walking towards the nearest aisle. He strode quickly down it, grabbing supplies with his nimble fingers.

"Hey, Shadow," Sonic said, dashing towards his brother, several backpacks in his hands, "These'll come in handy, right?"

"Yes. I hadn't even thought of pack," Shadow replied. He had just stuffed their ammunition into a plastic bag that had "Thank You" on it that he had found in the gun store. He took the backpacks, plainly colored and large. Shadow was proud that his little brother had been so sensible instead of just finding his favorite fictional character, Spider Man, on it. The black hedgehog took one of the backpacks from Sonic and placed into it the supplies he had been gathering.

Silver then appeared, an entire case of water bottles in his arms.

"What the hell do we need that for?" Sonic asked skeptically, eyeing the water.

"We don't know when the next time we'll come across fresh water will be," Silver replied. Sonic continued his stare, so Silver snapped, "Look, we don't have to take the entire thing, Sonic!"

"Oh, good. 'Cause if we did, _you'd_ be carrying it!"

"Sonic, Silver, will you two stop it!" Shadow roared, instantly regretting that decision. Several of the undead had turned in their direction, and before his little brothers could make any noises or movements, Shadow had an arm around each, with his hands over their mouths. After a second, the elder hedgehog let the younger two go, and put his index finger to his lips in the general "Shh" gesture. He then quietly proceded to open the water case, grabbing out four bottles for each of them and placing them in different backpacks. He handed one to Silver, another to Sonic, and took a third for himself.

Shadow took a fourth backpack and, as quietly as he could, dumped all the ammunition into it. The hedgehog then looked down at the final backpack. He didn't necessarily want to have too much with them, since that would only slow them down. He wondered if they needed anything else, and, if so, if the store had it.

"Shadow?" Silver whispered quietly, looking with worry at his brother as well as the creatures.

"One more thing," Shadow whispered back, "I want you two to head for the back doors and wait for me." Silver and Sonic nodded and took off in the direction of the back, while Shadow headed for the medicine section.

XXX

"How long have you been hunting, anyway?" Jet asked Wave. The young couple had found themselves up in a tree that was surrounded by a large mass of the creatures. Wave smirked.

"I'm surprised you think you're cool enough to talk right now, Jet," the swallow replied, easily sending a bullet right between the eyes of an armadillo.

"Eh, what can I say?" Jet shot, but missed. Wave gave him a severe look, and took out the zombie her boyfriend had been aiming for.

"If you can't aim and talk, just aim. I'd rather live, thank you."

"Who made you the boss," Jet asked angrily, missing again.

"Me. Because I can back up the words my mouth say," Wave replied, calmly shooting another creature, "Also, I think you're aiming too high."

"What? I'm aiming right between the eyes!"

"That's your problem. You're so unused to that gun that the kickback is making your bullet go higher than you want it to. Aim for between the eyes, then aim a little lower, and you're more likely to hit."

"Sure." Jet shot and missed again.

"You didn't even try."

Jet sighed and took aim. He then let his aim drop to his target's chin, and fired. The shot hit the zombie in the eye.

"See, Jet. You're improving already. Oh, and as an answer to your question, I've been hunting since I was about nine. My dad taught me how," a grimace appeared on Wave's face as she mentioned her family, which had probably joined the masses. A tear fell from the swallow's face as she set her gun again and shot, pegging one of the zombies in the shoulder. She then set her face hard, bit her tongue, and shot again, blowing the creature's head away.

As the two continued to thin the horde, they said nothing, merely concentrating on their shots. Wave was doing her best to bury what emotions she had, letting her head clear by thinking of the lazy eight. Jet, on the other hand, was trying to preserve what little bit of masculinity he had over his girlfriend by shooting as many zombies as he could between the eyes.

When Wave realized that the two of them were running low on ammunition, she scanned the crowd.

"Hey, Jet."

"Yeah?"

"We're almost out of ammo. I know where the closest store is, but we're going to have to go now. When I say go, will you be ready to jump?"

Jet thought for a second. He didn't want to leave the safety of the tree, since the zombies didn't seem to be able to climb trees. But if they were out of bullets, they'd be stuck for good.

"Yeah, I will be."

"Good," Wave replied, turning her gaze back towards the group as she packed up what little she had. When she finally saw an opening, she tensed in the tree and prepared to run, Jet following suit.

"Go."

XXX

Blaze knocked as loud as she dared on her friend's door. None of the creatures were around, but the cat couldn't be too careful. The door creaked slowly open, and the poised raccoon behind it sighed in relief as she lowered her bat.

"Blaze! Thank God you're safe!" Marine cried, ushering her friend and the two little ones inside.

"Hey, Marine," Blaze said, closing the door and bolting it behind her. She looked around the house. It was strangely cluttered, since the raccoon's reporter mother and lawyer father were hellish neat-freaks. "What happened here?" the cat asked.

"Dad wasn't home, and mom got all bitey. She actually got my arm. See?" Marine pushed up her short sleeve to reveal a layer off reddened gauze. "Luckily," the raccoon said, letting the sleeve cover the bandage once again, "I know exactly how to use the first aid kit."

"Good thing for all those years at Girl Scout Camp, huh?" Blaze asked, smiling a little.

"What happened to your mom?" Tails asked, his eyes darting around.

"Down in the basement, why?"

"We need to leave, then," the fox said, and, no stranger to the house, he headed into the kitchen.

"What are you doing Tails?" Cream asked, holding Cheese in her arms again.

"I don't want to stay in the same place as one of those things. Like Cheese said earlier, we don't know what those things can do, and we don't really have any way to take care of them. So, I'm getting food for all of us."

"I think my dad-" Marine started, but Blaze broke in on Tails' behalf.

"Somehow, Marine, after being out there for even the short amount of time we were, I don't think your dad's going to come home today."

"But…" Marine's face faded away.

"Dude, my parents both dropped and attacked my little siblings. And earlier, a guy dropped in the streets, then tried to get me. I know something's wrong here, and you do too."

Marine kept her silence, tears forming in her eyes. Blaze gave her friend a worried look, then headed into the kitchen with Cream and Cheese. Though the cat felt guilty about raiding her friend's kitchen, she'd always crashed at Marine's long enough to get some food and sleep when she had had a particularly nasty fight with her parents.

An idea appeared with a glowing white halo around it in Blaze's mind, and she headed into the living room where her friend sat crying.

"Hey, Marine. Remember when I told you I was running off for good?"

Marine looked up and nodded, a tear falling off of her nose.

"And you told me that you'd come with, and it would be just you and me against the world?"

"Y-yeah," Marine replied, sniffling a bit.

"Well, are you still with me against the world?"

Marine blinked, too stunned to talk.

"Well, we'll have Tails, Cream, and Cheese with us. Will that be okay?"

An almost nonexistent smile appeared on Marine's face. "Yeah," she replied, "Yeah it will."

"Then let's roll."

The cat wove her way expertly around the house, grabbing all that she thought they would need. Marine beaconed Cream, and the two of them headed up the stairs to get several totes that the raccoon's mother hoarded like a dragon does gold.

After a few moments, Cream's high-pitched voice screeched down the stairs, "Blaze, Tails! Come quick, I think Marine's hurt!"

"Stay down here Tails, but be ready to run with as much as you can," the cat said, turning and vaulting up the stairs, taking them three at a time. She ran down the hall and slid to a stop, her eyes wide. Marine lay on the floor, with Cream hovering over her. Cheese was perched on his master's head, trying as best he could to console the rabbit.

"Cream, what happened?" Blaze asked, kneeling and pulling the rabbit to face her instead of Marine. The cat didn't even need to check for a pulse to know what condition her friend was in.

"We were in here, getting the bags out of the closet, and Marine started, um…" Cream was at a loss for words.

"Cha chao." _-Staggering-_ Cheese supplied.

"Yeah, what Cheese said. And then she fell down."

Blaze looked at her friend with a stab of sorrow and regret.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Cream," Blaze said, taking full command of her sister's eyes, "But right now we've got to go. Say a quick goodbye and-" The cat was unable to finish her sentence as Cream let out a high-pitched scream.

Blaze looked down to see Marine's teeth digging as deep as they could into Cream's calf. Without thinking, Blaze lifted her arms around her sister and held them high, clasped her hands together, and brought them crashing down on the back of the raccoon's head. The zombie let go, just a little, and Blaze ripped her sister's leg free.

"Cheese!" Blaze roared, flying out the door and down the stairs.

"Chao chao cha chao!" _-I'm getting the first aid!- _Cheese called back, flying into the bathroom.

"You'd better make it out, then. We're heading for the port," Blaze yelled, "Tails, let's get a move on!" The fox came out of the kitchen, a backpack that he had grabbed and emptied of Marine's school papers in one hand, and he ran as he finished stuffing things into it.

"I'll get the door," the fox said, slinging the filled backpack over his shoulder.

"Leave it open for Cheese," Blaze said, hoisting Cream up in her arms.

"Got it," Tails said, swinging the door wide and allowing his sisters to go first. He then turned and ran straight back inside.

"Tails, what the hell are you doing?" Blaze yelled, turning.

"Coming!" Tails called, dashing past the cat and rabbit, Marine's bat in his hand and Cheese holding grimly onto both a tiny first aid kit and the fox's pack.

Cream had lost conscious in Blaze's arms and hung limply, but the cat didn't stop to treat her. She, as well as Tails, wanted to make as much distance between Marine's house as possible.

"There!" Blaze breathed, panting hard as they came to the tiny port on the edge of Station Square. Cream stirred a little in Blaze's hands, but the cat was so busy with getting in one of the tiny motor boats that she didn't notice it.

Tails leapt on the boat and started it up quickly. Blaze silently thanked the stars that her little brother was good with all technology that came his way, even if it was a boat. The boat rumbled away from the harbor, and Blaze looked back to the shore. A few of zombies had appeared at the sound, but only one had actually made it into the water.

It didn't look like it could swim.

The cat then turned her attention to Cream, whose eyes had started to open.

The instant Blaze got a good look at Cream's eyes, instinct kicked in, and she shoved the rabbit from her. Tails felt the commotion behind him and turned quickly, looking at his sister. He then narrowed his eyes and shoved Cream off the boat before she could bite him.

The fox then turned back to make sure the boat didn't stray from its route.

"Tails?"

"Never again," the fox replied, tears sliding down his face.

"You did what you had to. I know I couldn't have."

"Now I'm just like my old father- a murderer."

Blaze recoiled. She had never heard anything of Tails' life before her parents had adopted him, same for Cream.

"No," Blaze said after a while, putting her hands on his shoulder.

"Fuck off," he roared, shrugging her hands off. For the rest of the trip, he refused to even look Blaze in the eye.

_AN: So sorry that I haven't updated this story in a good forever. I've been snagged in that pain in the ass we call 'Writer's Block'. This chappie has been partially written for several months now, and I've just gotten back to this site. Anyway, something I'd like to say here, Blaze is Wiccan, and fairly proud of it. Her parents never really approved, and thus, why she would run to Marine's house. Also, Tails was adopted when his father killed his mother, and Cream's only guardian, her grandmother, passed of a heart attack. No, I didn't waste all this time coming up with back story. I've just been really lazy. (The back stories took all of three seconds.)_


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Tails, Blaze, and Cheese had finally made it to the Mystic Ruins, night had gotten a stranglehold on the place. The fox had a fair amount of trouble navigating, given the fact that he was usually constantly in front of a computer screen doubled with the fact that there was barely any moonlight. Blaze, on the other hand, could easily see where she was going, and held her brother tightly around the wrist.

"Ow! What'd I run into?" Tails cried in alarm.

"Oh, relax, will you, Tails? It's nothing but a rail cart. Remember the trips we use to take out here with mom and dad?"

"I know," Tails asked, his face downcast.

Blaze thought for a moment, both for their safety and for Tails' mental health.

"You said we should sleep in the trees, right Tails?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah, so?" Tails said with a huff.

"Well, we should take this rail cart and head for the forest. There's loads of trees there, aren't there?"

"I thought you didn't want to sleep in a tree!" Tails snapped.

"Chao…" _-Sorry…-_ Cheese mumbled.

"If we hadn't even bothered going after Marine, Cream wouldn't be gone!" Tails yelled, then dropped to his knees and started crying, "Sorry won't cut it!"

"Tails," Blaze said with the tone of a concerned parent as she kneeled beside him. She tried to put her arm around him, but he shrugged her off violently.

"Don't 'Tails' me, Blaze. Why didn't you take charge, tell her 'no'?" Tails looked up to Blaze so he could see his shining, tear-streaked face as he continued his verbal assault, "You're supposed to be taking care of us! Why don't you be the adult you're always telling us you are, and what you keep telling us to be? Huh, Blaze? Are you too good for your own words? You should have just left us both outside our house to die."

The lavender cat just stared at her adopted brother. Before her mind had time to catch up with her body, Blaze had smacked Tails as hard as she could on his cheek and knocked him to the ground.

"You want me to leave? Fine then. Cheese, let's go." Blaze settled into the cart and pulled up the side, waiting for the hesitant chao.

"Cha-" _-But- -_Cheese said, looking at Tails as the fox got up.

"Well?" Blaze asked with impatience. The speech was something she expected her parents to give her, not her little brother, which was probably why she had slapped him. She didn't want the fox to think her weak, but she didn't want to leave him behind, either. His fate was in Cheese's hands.

"Chao chao chao cha chao chao." _-If you leave him, what would Cream think?-_

Blaze's eyes widened at the response. She then lowered the side again, and Tails climbed in silently behind her, Cheese settling down on his head.

"We find the tallest, thickest tree we can, and sleep in it," Blaze said to Tails and Cheese. Neither one responded as they shot through the darkened tunnel.

* * *

"Looks like someone's already had their way with this place," Jet muttered to Wave as they stood outside the darkened gun store. Night had snuck up on them as they were carefully making their way to the store, and though it terrified the duo, neither was willing to admit it to the other.

Wave stepped carefully into the store, wincing as broken glass cracked musically beneath her feet. When she had checked to make sure all was safe, she motioned Jet to follow her inside. The hawk cautiously stepped inside, his eyes darting around the gun store like he was walking straight into the mouth of a monster.

The air felt thick and musty in the store, although they knew it had to have been inhabited earlier that day. The only light there was came in through the door, and only lit the mess of glass that littered the doorway.

Wave hopped the counter carefully, quickly scanning the shelves for what they needed. She grabbed all the cartridges she could carry, which was most of the supply that she had found.

"Hey, Wave," Jet whispered, coming behind the counter and crouching with Wave as she finished up.

"What?" she whispered back, checking to make sure they she had everything she needed.

"I think we've got company."

"Well, they'll have to wait at the door. You need more ammo too, and I've grabbed pretty much everything that was out front."

"I don't think they're going to wait, Wave."

"Then take these," Wave growled, shoving the rest of the cartridges into his pack, "And let's check the back."

"What if there's more back there?"

"I'll give them hell," Wave replied curtly, loading her gun and rising quickly. A few of the undeads had started to come into the store at the sound of them stepping on the glass, their blind eyes staring straight at the couple. Wave motioned Jet towards a door which led to the storage area and back exit, hoping he would be quiet. Jet locked his eyes on the zombies, walking sideways and backwards, bumping into a box. The creatures' heads jerked toward the sound and started going forward.

Wave pulled out one of the cartridges as she made a mental sigh, and threw it towards the opposite side of the room. The swallow girl got lucky, and the undead stumbled towards where she had thrown the cartridge. She then turned to Jet, giving him a stern look as she put her index finger to her lips and swept past him.

The duo quietly slipped into the back rooms, which were the storage areas for the small gun shop. There were three rooms connected by a narrow hallway with an exit at the end. Each door was labeled separately. Wave walked past the 'Common Artillery' door, heading straight for the 'Hunting' door. She eased the door open and entered gun first, cursing the fact that she didn't have a flashlight. She pawed around for a light switch, and finding none, reached above her head for a pull switch.

After moments of waving her arm above her head in the dark, Wave finally found what she was after and pulled the switch. The room was flooded with light, revealing what she was after- rifle ammunition. She ducked her head into the hallway to find that Jet had entered the third room, which was marked 'Special Customers'.

"Jet," she hissed in his ear, "What the hell? You need rifle ammo, not-" Wave broke off as she got a better look at the weapons in the room.

"I bet we could do loads better with this baby," Jet whispered, pointing at a rocket launcher.

Wave thought for a quick second, then shook her head.

"No, we wouldn't."

"Why not?" Jet asked with a bit of a whine. Wave glanced out the door to make sure none of the undead had come.

"Because," she whispered, "Neither you nor me knows how to use that thing. And no, playing video games doesn't make either one of us an expert with the thing. Let's just leave it and get you the ammo you need."

Jet hung his head in defeat and mumbled, "Fine."

* * *

"Hurry up, Silver!" Sonic yelled, looking over his shoulder as he ran through the storage section of the grocery store.

"Sorry I'm not Mr. Jock like you, Sonic," Silver called, panting hard and running as fast as he could to keep up with his twin.

"Will you two shut the fuck up?" Shadow growled, looking behind at the advancing crowd, "You're basically saying, 'Hey, guys, come and kill us please.'"

"Sorry," Sonic mumbled as he continued his sprint.

"Just cram it," Shadow replied sliding around a tight corner and barreling down the newly-opened corridor. He'd never been back here, but he had a fair idea of where to go.

"There!" Silver cried, pointing around another corner as he dashed. A giant aperture led the way out, and the three hedgehogs followed the light.

"It's night already?" Sonic asked, staring at the clear, moonlit sky.

"Well," Shadow replied, "The sun was setting when we headed into the store." Silver said nothing as he finally caught up, panting heavily.

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked, hovering over his little brother. Silver started to shake his head, but thought better of it and nodded instead.

"I think they're still coming," Sonic said with growing anxiety, looking back into the storage area of the grocery store.

"It's time we were gone, then," Shadow replied.

"But-" Silver panted, still recovering.

"Sorry, Silver, but now's not the time to rest. I think the Train Station is nearby, and we might be able to at least hide there for the night. But we won't be able to rest until then. Okay?" The young hedgehog nodded, standing upright.

"How are we going to get to the Train Station?" Sonic asked.

"We take the back alleys," Shadow replied, striding out of the dim parking lot that flanked the back of the grocery store. No words passed between the three brothers as they made their way to the Station Square Train Station, usually one of the busiest places in the city.

As the Station finally came into view, a thought crept into Silver's mind.

"Wait!" he said suddenly, startling his brothers.

"What is it Silver? You nearly gave me a freakin' heart attack," Sonic replied with an annoyed tone.

"Well, the Train Station has always been really busy," Silver started.

"So?" Sonic asked moodily.

"I thought there might be lots of those zombies in there."

Although the thought disturbed Shadow, he didn't let it show. He hadn't thought about that, but it made sense- whatever had hit Station Square didn't just work outside.

"We still need to find somewhere to rest," Shadow said, "Don't worry, I'll keep watch."

"If you say so," Silver replied hesitantly, following his older brother into the darkened Train Station. What greeted the weary trio was an empty-looking lobby.

"See?" Sonic asked, "Nothing to worry about."

"I still don't like it," Silver said as the other two headed towards the long desk. As he looked around, his adjusting, golden eyes started to pick up forms in the dark.

"Guys?" Silver whispered, running over to Sonic and Shadow.

"What?" Shadow asked, his little brother's worried tone scaring him.

"There's loads of them here. We need to go."

* * *

"Glad to finally meet you I am," a female voice said as a slim roadrunner appeared in the strangely blue-colored fire.

"Who's that?" Rouge whispered to Espio. The chameleon just ignored her.

"Dust-on-Wind I am," the roadrunner replied. Practically every part of her rustled and flowed constantly as she walked, and she seemed to appear and disappear into the shadows.

"Will you take Tikal?" Knuckles asked impatiently, as though he had been waiting for an answer for longer than the few minutes he had been waiting for Rouge and Espio.

"Depends that does," Dust-on-Wind replied, appearing behind Knuckles and finally stopping.

"On what?" the echidna asked warily.

"Whether you and they the survivors help."

"What survivors?"

"What I speak of you already know," the roadrunner said, disappearing into the dark once more and reappearing a minute later behind Rouge.

"Okay, so I saved the cop. What more do you want of me?" Although he masked it well, Rouge could still hear the growing desperation in his voice.

"Others."

"Others? Who else could have survived that?" Rouge blurted out, receiving glares from the two thieves.

Dust-on-Wind chuckled. "Others who have survived. You not the only ones are."

"Who else?" Knuckles asked.

The roadrunner didn't reply, but removed from the dark area where the fire's light didn't touch a small scepter-like item with a crystal sphere atop it. She closed her eyes and held the crystal to her forehead and stood there for what felt like forever to the bat.

Without opening her eyes, Dust-on-Wind said, "Three hedgehogs, a black, a blue, and a silver, there are. For much longer one not survive will, but which one depends upon the actions of all three. Elsewhere, a young couple there is, a purple swallow, and a jade hawk. He will die if he his childish ways doesn't soon relinquish and listen to her. Close to this place, a chao, a cat, and a young fox sleep. In the trees they are. Find them and stick with them, and different their fates may be."

"That all?" Knuckles asked, rising.

"One thing more," the roadrunner replied, "After you have all of them retrieved, you must to Angel Island head. I there will wait, and as requested, I take your sister will. She safe with me will be."

"Okay, then. We should get going," Espio said, also rising.

"Fate with you be," Dust-on-Wind answered, disappearing into the dark.

"Let's go," Knuckles said, sweeping deftly out of the light, with Rouge and Espio following.

Pinpricks of light above told the bat that night had snuck up on them, As the trio emerged from the strange, pyramid-like structure, her suspicions were confirmed.

"Now what?" the bat asked, although she was sure she already knew- and didn't like- the answer.

"We find the people Dust-on-Wind was talking about."

"She mentioned that some of them were nearby," Espio said, looking about the forest.

"I've got an idea," Rouge said, taking off and scouting the forest from above. Even her trained eyes barely made out the two forms in the trees, and she hurried back to tell Knuckles and Espio what she had found.

They tramped their way through the dim woods until they came to the tree where the young trio slept.

"Hey, kids," Knuckles said gruffly, poking the orange fox, who woke with a start.

"Blaze!" the fox shrieked in terror, staring at the dark figures below him.

"Relax, kid," Rouge said, using the most soothing voice she could, "We're not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, that's what the last one said," the fox replied as the cat beside him began to wake.

"What is it, Tails?" the cat, Blaze, asked groggily. Her golden eyes shifted to the three creatures below her, and she was instantly alert. "What do you want"" she asked with a threatening undertone.

"To help you," Rouge said, still using her soothing tone.

"We're doing fine, thank you," Tails replied curtly.

"Do you have any weapons to defend yourselves with?" Espio asked, his patience with the two kids starting to thin.

Blaze thought for a second, then replied, "Not much, just a baseball bat."

"Oh, yeah," Knuckles mumbled sarcastically, "Because that'll do you so much good."

Rouge turned her head to glare at him, then turned a concerned face back to the youngsters. "We have a job to do, and we need you to come with us so we can fulfill that job."

"What kind of job?" Tails asked, looking suspiciously down.

"We've got to help all of the survivors of Station Square, and you fit that requirement," Knuckles answered before Rouge could answer otherwise.

"No," Tails replied.

"Wait a second, Tails," Blaze said to him quietly, then she asked the adults below, "What would that entail?"

"Probably heading back into the lion's den," Knuckles replied.

"Then fuck no," Tails said with finality.

"Then you're here on your own, Tails. We've already had this talk." Blaze jumped down from the tree, a surprisingly still-sleeping Cheese in her arms. The fox's eyes widened in shock and fear, and he dutifully leapt from the branches of the tree.

"We'll sleep in the sewers for tonight, with Espio, Rouge, and myself keeping watch in turns," Knuckles said, "In the morning, we head for Station Square."

_AN: Yeah, I know this is up on my user page, but I thought I'd put it here so you don't have to burden yourselves with having to look at all the other stories I've got up. Anyway, here's an explanation as to how the Infinitus Sol virus works (oh, and thanks to Herr Wozzeck, who helped me with one of the details!)_

_It enters through the blood stream, or (in the second strand) through the air as well. The reason some people are/are not effected is because of genetics. The effect of the aerial version is determined by a gene. The same gene protects against Infinitus Nox. The strand passed through the exchange of bodily fluids only effects the uninfected being if it enters their bloodstream. As it states in the story, Infinitus Nox takes down the breath and heart rates until the host dies through lack of oxygen. Infinitus Sol, unseen by Robotnik, has similar effects. The throat clenches up, and blood starts to move more sluggishly around the body, thus strangling and killing the host. Then the virus starts to act as the brain and nervous system, reconnecting brain tissue and seeming to bring the person back to life. However, they feel no pain, and thanks to the strengthening properties of the virus, they are strong and durable. They feel hunger for flesh because the virus feeds on proteins. If there is a lack of proteins from the environment, then the virus will feed on its host, thus why they will appear to rot. The rotting also occurs because the body is still dead and the organic material is naturally decomposing. The virus can't live in bone, and it at least needs the brain to communicate with the rest of the body, so if the head is destroyed, the body dies with it. The zombie has two other weaknesses- it is blind and sluggish, both of which are caused by the virus's inability to regulate muscle contractions. The Infinitus Sol virus over-stimulates the muscles that contract and expand in the eye, making it so the iris is shut so tight that pupil can't get any light. However, it makes up for lack of sight with extremely good hearing. Since the virus communicates through the slightly-decaying nervous system, and because the virus will sometimes send/receive mixed signals, the zombies are sluggish and their gaits are awkward._


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"So then, where are we going?" Jet asked, looking around for any sign of the undead.

"To the edge of town," Wave replied, her voice flat as she walked quickly and quietly along.

"Why?" Wave resisted the urge to slap Jet for asking so many questions.

"There's bound to be less of them."

The couple stepped to the edge of an open alleyway, and Wave flattened both herself and Jet to the wall. The hawk scowled but said nothing, seeing how well Wave's tactics had worked so far.

After a while, Wave tugged him a little into the starlight and led him along by the hand, her shotgun held at the ready in her other. Their shadows chased after them, and their footfalls were barely audible as they ran. The extra sight and sound made the duo jumpier. but it didn't hinder them entirely.

A grunt to the from behind caught Jet's attention, and he tugged Wave, causing her to turn. She gave him a scowl and mouthed 'What?' at him when something beyond him caught her eye.

"Shit," she whispered, staring at the pocket of zombies lumbering after them. Wave put up one finger across her lips and lowered her eyebrows a little before slowly making her way towards the buildings and keeping in their shadows.

Jet and Wave kept slinking along, glancing behind themselves occasionally to see the crowd thin and eventually disperse into the night.

A long while after the crowd had left them, Wave ducked into the doorway of a shop, Jet right beside her. They stared out across the street, each of them hoping that they would see none of the undead.

Their luck was starting to turn, if only slightly.

The duo started back out, using the light of the stars to guide the way, and made their way down the street, giving a wide berth once again to any alleyways. They came to a dead light, took a left in the middle of the street, and started picked up their pace.

Jet had to keep himself from falling apart as he saw his friends' houses, or he saw a destroyed car. The town was abandoned, and it wasn't even two in the morning. The one thing Jet didn't see was bodies, which left a hunk of ice in his stomach. He kept his shotgun at the ready, ready to blow whatever came at him to shit, but somehow he didn't think that would be necessary.

The jade hawk was backup, was an add on, and he knew it.

Wave kept counting street numbers in her mind, trying to find her way to the highway, or the train station.

"Wave," Jet whispered as he looked across the street.

"What is it?" she asked, barely turning her head as she kept an eye out for undead.

"We're going past the graveyard," he replied, "Shouldn't we, like, hold our breath?"

The swallow's head jerked around and she gave him a stern look that lasted an instant before something dawned in her mind and spread across her face.

"We're going in," she said.

"Woah woah woah," Jet said, grabbing Wave quickly by the forearm. "I may not be the great shot you are, but I know a suicidal idea when I hear one. No way in hell is either of us going in there."

Wave tried to yank her arm free, but Jet held firm.

"Let me go," she growled.

"No." Jet's face was set as stone.

The hawk started walking, and he dragged Wave behind him. The duo moved slowly, with a surprising amount of silence, and barely made any progress before Wave finally said, "Look up ahead."

Jet blinked and squinted, staring up ahead.

"Shit."

"There's no safety in going back either."

Jet turned to face Wave, dreading the face of 'I told you so'. He was terrified that he was wrong, even in his best intentions, and would get himself killed if he didn't listen to Wave.

But it wasn't there.

Wave stood with her legs braced against any more pulling that Jet might do with a blank face, her shotgun in one hand and her backpack slung across her slender shoulders. The hawk resisted the urge to kiss her, and instead let her go.

"Lead the way."

They hurried as quietly as possible towards the graveyard, planning to cut across to the next street over. The gate was unlocked, at which Jet gave a mental sigh of relief. Wave carefully pushed the gate open, wincing at it announced their presence to all.

The cemetery was a dump, with some of the graves looking like they had been blasted out. Tombstones were knocked over, and there were flowers strewn everywhere and merged with the ground.

"The fuck happened here?" Jet muttered in Wave's ear. Despite herself, she gave him a little grin.

"Your mother," she murmured back, stepping carefully around a six-foot-deep hole.

They then kept their silence, Wave leading the way with her gun.

When asphalt was under them once again, the duo picked up their pace on their journey to the edge of town.

* * *

"What the hell is this place?" Blaze asked, sloshing along behind Rouge.

"The sewers," Knuckles replied bluntly.

"All right then," the cat replied, trying to keep the hurt sound out of her voice. She was at first glad that these adults had taken them in, and that they would be kept safe, but now she wasn't so sure. Of course, the bat, Rouge, had been nice to both her and Tails, but Knuckles and Espio had been far from caring.

Blaze felt like baggage.

Tails had kept himself quiet, not bothering with anything besides following the others. He kept to the back of the line, and Blaze looked back from time to time to make sure he was still among the truly living.

The fox drifted in and out of sleep as he walked, wondering quietly just how much farther these scum were going to take him. He dreamed a little, mostly of dinosaurs. Strong tyrannosaurs rexes, agile velociraptors, and swift ptetronodons.

"We're taking a different route," Rouge said, causing Blaze to jump a little.

Knuckles and Espio stopped abruptly, causing Rouge, Blaze, and Tails to bump straight into them.

The echidna turned, merely a sloshing sound to the others with him. "Fuck, woman," he barked, "Do you have to damn well keep asking me questions?"

"It wasn't a question," she replied smartly, "And I'll be damned if you leave me in the dark."

Silence for a second, before Tails let out a chuckle.

"What's so damn funny?" Knuckles roared.

"She said, 'leave me in the dark', and we're in a sewer at night," the fox mumbled groggily. The rest of the party stood, silent, before Blaze started laughing a little too.

"You're right," she said. Rouge joined them.

"I did walk into that," she agreed.

"Why the hell are you laughing?" Espio asked from the darkness.

"We need it at this point," Rouge said, "But you're right, it's not the time for that."

There was no response except for the slosh of Knuckles' feet starting back up again, and they began their trudge anew.

Rouge returned to quietly ignoring the stench assailing her nose, and keeping herself awake with a mind game she used to play whenever she had been forced to work past midnight: think of the worst thing imaginable, then try to top it with something else. The bat had notoriously figured in mass suicide of world leaders, implosion of the earth, and even post-apocalyptic life. Nothing like her current situation, however, ever entered the equation.

"Wait up a sec," Espio said after a while.

"What is it?" Knuckles asked.

"I thought I heard something."

"Coming from where?"

"Behind us."

"Maybe I'll be able to hear it," Rouge said, turning to face the way Espio had indicated, "Cover your ears." She opened her mouth in an un-lady-like fashion and a high-pitched screech seemed to come from the walls and putrid water, making its way down the tunnel and back in a heart beat.

"What the fuck was that?" Knuckles asked when the bat had finished.

"Echolocation," Rouge replied with an unseen shrug, "Lets me see things when I can't see."

"Useful," Espio said, "But was there anything down there?"

"Not that I could tell," Rouge replied, "But if it's too far away, the echolocation could be off."

"Fine then," Knuckles said, "We'd better get out of her before we're made to regret it."

Again, nothing but the sloshing of fetid water...

...But there was suddenly concrete. Rouge first noticed it by sound, and was instantly excited by it.

"Are we here?" she asked quietly.

"Almost," Knuckles replied, "We just have to do a bit of climbing."

"Works for me."

"What about the kids?" Espio asked, looking back into the darkness.

"I'm all right to climb," Blaze said.

"Same," Tails voice called out dutifully, but his tiredness was obvious.

"Let's climb then," Knuckles said, and he led the way with the sound of his large shoes on metal.

He was followed by Espio's steps, then Rouge's, followed by Blaze's and finally Tails'. There was clanking for a short while, and then the scrape of metal.

"Are we back in the city?" Rouge asked.

"No," Knuckles replied, "But we're getting close. This is where we're resting for tonight."

"All right then."

Both thieves pulled themselves out of the manhole with little effort, and Rouge only gave a little grunt. Blaze took an extra second or two to catch her breath before sliding herself out of the sewers, and when Tails was unable to pull himself out, she helped him.

"You're not done yet, lightweights," Knuckles said, "We've got to do a little more walking." Tails groaned, and Blaze promptly punched him in the shoulder.

"Let's get this over with then," the cat said, rising to her feet and helping her little brother up.

As they walked, the sound of gravel joined them, a soothing sound compared to the sewers. Tails fell asleep all over again as he walked, and ran straight into his sister when they stopped.

"We're here," the echidna said, barely seen in the starlight as he gestured.

It was a shack without a door, barely even a lean-to.

"Home sweet home," Tails murmured, heading straight inside. The three adults exchanged a glance before looking at Blaze.

"It's way past his bedtime," the cat said weakly, shrugging.

"How about yourself?" Rouge asked.

"I'm getting there," Blaze replied with a yawn.

"Well," Knuckles said, "There are three places to sleep in there, so you and him are going to have to share."

"All right," Blaze said, following her brother inside.

The two thieves looked at each other before looking at Rouge.

"How much longer 'till your bedtime?" Espio asked in a condescending tone.

"Depends. How much longer 'till sunrise?"

"You take first shift, then," Knuckles said, heading inside. Espio followed silently after.

The bat sat down, checking her gun. She had a small pack of ammunition for it slung over her shoulder that Knuckles had given her, and she had loaded the gun as soon as she had ammo.

She was prepared for the worst, physically and mentally, but she wasn't so sure about the kids they had just picked up. The cat had been ready to jump straight back into the fire with them, and she was pretty sure the echidna and chameleon were both nuts. And that fox... Rouge shuddered. Something made her feel like he was already a part of the horde.

Rouge settled in for the night and took a glance at her watch-it read 11:11 PM. She made a smile through her coating of grime, and made a wish.

* * *

"Now what do we do?" Silver asked, the nervous edge in his voice all-too-prevalent.

"We stay quiet," Shadow replied, slinking towards the exit. There was a long staircase down that he knew about, and they could get into the sewers down there.

The three brothers worked their way down the pitch black stairs, running into walls as it took sharp turns. Surprisingly, Silver was the first one to reach the bottom, followed by Sonic and then Shadow.

"Which way?" Silver whispered.

"This way," Shadow said, busting open a door he only knew about because of his friend whose father had worked in the train station.

Thank God for little miracles.

The black hedgehog waved his little brothers through, and he closed the door hard behind them, pulling a flashlight from his pack and dashing after his brothers.

Ahead, Sonic and Silver skidded to a halt, and Shadow stopped, pointing his flashlight down the three corridors he had to choose from.

"Look, stairs," Sonic said, turning to the right and dashing towards the staircase. Silver looked to Shadow, who nodded and headed off after Sonic.

The blue hedgehog was leaping down the stairs, his nimble feet not missing a single landing. Shadow hit the stairs running, as did Silver, and the triad whipped around corners.

"Shit!" Sonic's voice exploded in the corridor, accompanied by a sick thud.

Shadow and Silver's footsteps hastened, and the black hedgehog's flashlight lit up the stairs far below its owner. Shadow stumbled on the last stair, Silver nearly knocking him on top of Sonic. The blue hedgehog was sitting slumped over his leg, holding his ankle.

"What happened?" Shadow asked, gingerly stepping down beside Sonic.

"I fucked up my ankle," Sonic growled.

"Silver, take this," Shadow held out the flashlight, and Silver grabbed it, shining it on Sonic's ankle. It was red, and his foot was bent at an odd angle.

"Ah shit," Sonic said again, desperation in his voice. The silence then pressed down heavily on them as each hedgehog contemplated what they should do.

"I'll carry him," Silver said suddenly.

"What?" Shadow asked.

"No way in hell," Sonic said.

"Well," Silver said, "I can't shoot, but Shadow can. He can keep his arms free if I carry you."

"Fine."

Silver handed the flashlight back to Shadow and bent to hoist Sonic up. When the twins were settled, they started back down the steps, Shadow shining the light ahead of them. After several more flights, they came to the final landing where nothing but a door awaited them.

"Shall we, then?" Sonic asked. Silver eyed the door warily.

"No other way." Shadow pushed the door open carefully, and the triad was assaulted by a strong stench.

"The fuck is that?" Sonic asked.

"The sewers," Silver said matter-of-factly. Shadow held the door open for his younger siblings, and Silver lugged Sonic inside. The sound of running water could be heard along with the sound of footsteps, but above all was the scent of shit in the air.

"Now which way?" Silver asked, his head swiveling along the two turnoffs.

"There's no way we can go through the water," Shadow said, quickly turning to his left with Sonic and Silver lumbering along after him.

A splash could be heard behind them, and Silver jerked. "What the hell was that?" he cried, his head whipping back and forth behind him.

"Nothing, you pussy," Sonic growled, some of his weight placed on his swollen ankle.

"If you say so," Silver replied quietly, giving a small glance backward into the darkness before turning again and following Shadow.

The triad trudged on, until another splash caught Silver's attention. The hedgehog ignored it, worried instead about keeping his twin safe.

"Yeoooow! Fuck!" Sonic was tugged partially from Silver's grip, and the hedgehog pulled back on his twin. Another scream ripped free from Sonic, and he raised his free leg-the swollen one-and promptly kicked on the face of the undead that emerged from the putrid waters. The man-surprisingly a human-had a large mustache that blocked the view of his mouth as he bit deeply into Sonic's leg.

"Let 'im go!" Silver roared, pulling against the zombie. Shadow ran back to his little brothers, grabbing Silver around the waist as the younger hedgehog's grip on his twin started to slip.

With a monstrous splash it was over, both Sonic and the fat human zombie disappeared into the water below.

"It-it's all my fault." Silver sagged in Shadow's arms, and the black hedgehog shook him violently.

"We go. _Now_," Shadow growled, and Silver nodded, tears at the corners of his eyes.

The two hedgehogs ran as quickly as they could, trying their best not to slip on the slimy concrete ledges.

* * *

_AN: Wow. I have not been back this way in forever. And this story-along with all my others-was basically dropped. Whatever. I do plan to get this finished by the end of the summer, if not the end of the month. If anyone comes back and reads this, then kudos to you._


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Dammit," Wave growled, her head halfway around a corner. Jet was flattened against a wall across from his girlfriend and looking out in the opposite direction.

"Should we cut across this alley?" Jet whispered, indicating the direction with his thumb.

Wave gave the street a last glance, cursing her luck, before nodding to Jet and slinking into the shadows. They did their best to keep silent in the dark, their eyes fully adjusted to the night.

"Wave, we've got a problem," Jet whispered, and the sound of him patting concrete could be heard not ten feet in front of her.

"Was there a door anywhere on your side?" Wave asked.

"Yeah."

"How close to the edge of the alleyway?"

"Dunno," Jet whispered, thinking a bit, "Maybe twenty feet or so."

Wave was silent, looking up at the sliver of sky she could see between buildings, and said, "We'll risk it." Jet nodded.

The duo slunk back towards the door that Jet had mentioned and tested it carefully, wincing as it gave a little creak; however, if that was the worst there was, Jet thanked whatever gods he could think of that it was open.

The hawk entered first, and almost directly tripped over something.

"Shit," he whispered angrily.

"You okay?" Wave asked.

"I'll live," Jet muttered, resisting the urge to nurse his smarting leg.

"You'd better," the swallow growled, closing the door as carefully as she could behind herself. Jet looked on silently, before turning and feeling his way towards a small point of light he saw.

"Jet, where are you?" Wave asked, her voice almost a stage whisper.

"Up here," he replied, "I see light." Wave's reply was footfalls on what sounded like linoleum. There was a clank as Jet tripped again, and the swallow winced in the darkness.

"You want me to lead, hun?" she asked.

"No," Jet snapped back, promptly tripping over another object. Part of it entangled his legs, where the top part was cushioned. "Fuck," he barked as he tried to untangle his legs. Wave's footsteps stopped.

"Gonna help me?" Jet growled.

"One sec," Wave replied dismissively. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Footsteps," she replied, "Wait here a second."

Jet started once again to free himself, but heard an angry 'Shhh!' out of the dark, and stopped in an uncomfortable-albeit very stretching-position.

There were receding footsteps-Wave's-and a faint sound that Jet couldn't quite place. The hawk could also hear-faintly-Wave pulling out and cocking her shotgun. Then there was silence, Jet couldn't bear it, and he saw in his mind's eye a million scenerios, each more ghastly than the last.

Gunblasts made the hawk flinch violently, and he cried out in pain as whatever his feet were tangled in rattled his legs. Footsteps, quick and light, made their way towards him.

"Jet, are you okay?" Wave's voice asked him, no longer a whisper.

"No," Jet snapped, "My legs feel like shit and I'm still not sure what I'm tangled up in."

"You still want my help?" she asked.

"I'll let you know." Jet struggled a bit, finally freeing himself after several more bashes to his legs.

"You okay?" Wave asked.

"I'll live," Jet replied, "Let's go."

The two avian teens made their way towards the light, Jet making no comment as the ground below him squished a little. The light itself was starlight making its way into the building from a window.

"Are we gonna jump out it?" Jet asked.

"Yes," Wave said, opening the window partially and sticking her head out it. "Coast is clear, and the window's not too high."

"Want help?" Jet asked, a slightly hopeful hint in his voice.

"Yes, please." Wave held out her gun. Jet's eye twitched a little in the dark, but he took it. The swallow then opened the window fully, shoving the pane up enough so that she could sit up in it before swinging her legs around and dropping lightly to the ground outside. "Give me my gun back. Also, you want me to hold yours?"

"Sure," Jet grumbled, handing both firearms to his girlfriend and sliding through the window himself.

"Hey," Wave whispered to Jet.

"What?"

"You see that light?" Jet followed what he could see of Wave's arm with his eyes to see a glow in the night sky.

"Isn't that in the direction of Casinopolis?" Jet asked, straining his eyes.

"Maybe."

"I don't think we should go there. There might be zombies."

Wave just gave Jet a sly grin, whispered something that sounded like, "Woman's intuition,", and darted off into the night.

The hawk followed, hoping to at least get his gun back.

* * *

"Silver, hold my gun while I open this door," Shadow said in a low tone, one of his slim shoulders already shoved up against the metal door in question. Silver took the gun quietly in his left hand, his right holding the flashlight.

Shadow slammed his arm into the door, working the handle as he did so. He could feel rust coming off in his shoulder fur, but he ignored it and continued ramming the door. After the fourth or fifth hit, the door budged, coming about halfway out of the jamb. Shadow slammed his shoulder into the door a couple more times before stumbling into the corridor beyond.

The black hedgehog righted himself and held out his hand, where Silver deposited the gun. They continued on, roughly shutting the door in its rusty jamb. More stairs greeted the duo, and they hastened up the steps.

"Where do you think we are?" Silver asked, not entirely counting out the possibility that they had re-entered the train station.

"I'm not sure," Shadow said, "But we must be in one of the buildings close to the station." Silver nodded and kept the flashlight he had been given aimed on the stairs.

For a while, there was nothing except for the monotonous tap of their feet on concrete stairs. Then there was a different tone to the noise, a small intake of breath, a thud, a cry of pain, a clatter of a flashlight bouncing down stairs.

"Silver, are you alright?" Shadow stopped and turned to where his brother had tripped. He pulled out his own flashlight and shone it on Silver so the damage done could be seen.

"I think so," Silver replied, looking himself over in the dark.

"Good," Shadow said, "Then go down and grab your flashlight."

"Okay," Silver said with a nod. He rose to his feet and headed down the stairs, grasping the railing as he went. Shadow thought his gait sounded a little off, but thought nothing of it. The light then came bobbing back up the stairs and Shadow rose to his feet.

"You okay Silver?" the black hedgehog asked.

"Yeah," Silver said brightly, and something in his voice seemed off.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go," Shadow said, starting his monotonous journey up the stairs again, Silver behind him. They stayed silent, giving Shadow time to listen to Silver's slightly-off footsteps and think about Sonic. The zombie that had grabbed his little brother looked familiar, like something out of one of Shadow's older nightmares. The eyes of the zombie were what bothered him the most, though. Red eyes, like the man was an albino or something-or a monster.

The two hedgehogs made it to the top of the stairs, each of them stumbling a little as they hit the final landing.

"Do you hear that?" Silver asked, going up to the only door there and putting his ear to it.

"Wait a second," Shadow said, stooping, "Turn off your flashlight."

Both hedgehogs put out their lights, and stared in awe at the light that made its way under the door.

"Where are we?" Silver asked quietly after a long silence.

"A hospital maybe?" Shadow asked.

"There isn't a hospital in Station Square. And none are close to the train station."

"There's only one way to find out, then," Shadow said, turning his flashlight back on and drawing his gun. He quickly checked it to make sure it was fully loaded. Silver turned his own flashlight, and removed the gun that Shadow had handed him earlier from his backpack. The younger hedgehog loaded it with the help of his older brother, who then took a position between Silver and the door.

"You ready?"

"Ready as I can be," Silver said.

"Good. On three. One...Two..."

On three, Shadow thrust open the door, gun instantly at the ready. Beyond the door was a long corridor with several paintings on the wall and statues of scantily-clad women.

"I definitely don't think this is a hospital," Silver reiterated, and Shadow nodded in reply as he shut off his flashlight. "How do you think this place is still running on electricity?"

"The lights probably didn't get shut off," Shadow replied as they walked, "I mean, how come none of the other lights worked?"

"Nobody turned them on?" Silver asked. Shadow nodded.

"Then how come some of the streetlights weren't on?"

"I don't know," Shadow admitted, "Perhaps some weren't on a timer?"

"That doesn't sound likely."

Their conversation was cut short by a large crash. They were close to the end of the long, almost doorless hallway, staring at an ornate pair of double doors.

"Think there's zombies on the other side of the door?" Silver asked nervously.

"It's likely," Shadow replied, "I mean, this place is loud, wouldn't it attract them?"

"Maybe there's a door elsewhere?" Silver asked, trotting back down the way they had come, but finding no doors, not even after looking past several of the statues and behind many of the pictures.

"I don't think so," Shadow said, holding his ear to the door.

"I really don't want to go in there."

"I know you don't," Shadow said, "But we're probably not going to get saved waiting here. Besides, haven't you ever wanted to take action?"

"No," Silver said with a huff.

"Well, that's too damn bad," Shadow replied, his patience done, "Get your gun ready, and for the love of God don't shoot me, got it?"

Silver nodded. "Are we going to die?"

Shadow thought a second before saying, "It's likely."

The black hedgehog opened the door.

* * *

"Wake up you lazy fuck," Espio said playfully, kicking Knuckles out of his cot.

"Fuck!" Knuckles groaned, picking himself up from off of his left arm.

Blaze blinked herself into wakefulness, and gave a sleepy little giggle as the echidna glared up at the chameleon.

"What's so fucking funny?" Knuckled growled as the teenager sat herself up and set her legs on the floor.

"You guys' wake up call," Blaze returned with a smile.

"Whatever. Wake up your brat," Espio said, rousing Rouge with a punch to the arm.

"The fuck was that for?" Rouge yelled as Blaze gently shook Tails and Cheese awake.

"I woke you up," Espio said, "Sun's going to be up soon."

Rouge rose quickly out of bed and stuck her head outside to investigate.

"The sky's barely gray," she snapped.

"What, need your beauty sleep?" Knuckles remarked as he got his gear together.

"Not as much as you," Rouge replied, getting her own things in order.

"Are we going back into the sewers?" Tails asked quietly, making Rouge and Knuckles both jump a little.

"Yes," Rouge said after a glance at the thieves.

"Okay then," Tails said, sweeping his backpack onto his shoulders and standing, "I'll wait outside." The fox worked his way past his elders and slipped into the pre-morning light.

"Your brother's odd," Espio mentioned to Blaze. The cat merely shrugged, swung her own backpack onto her shoulders, put a half-asleep Cheese on her head, and followed her brother outside.

"Are you sure picking up these kids was a good idea?" Espio asked, staring in Knuckles' direction.

"Dust-on-Wind said to, and I'm not jeopardizing my little sister's safety," Knuckles replied, rising and heading out the door.

"Hell of a day, huh?" Rouge asked with a weak smile. Espio shook his head and headed out of the door. The bat shrugged and followed the rest of her party outside. Knuckles slid his fingers under the manhole cover and opened it roughly, causing the cover to clang against the small patch of cement around it. He then lowered himself into it, holding tightly to the invisible steps down. Espio followed, then the two kids-the sister before the brother-and finally Rouge. She reached up, using her wings to balance her in the hole, and helped the manhole cover to clatter over the opening.

Darkness and climbing ensued.

What Rouge figured was twenty feet or so below her, she heard Knuckles splash into the sewer water, followed quickly by Espio, Blaze, and Tails.

"Anyone below?" Rouge called down.

"One sec," Blaze replied, and the bat could hear as people splashed out of her way before the jumped, staying in the air a grand total of two seconds before sploshing into the repulsive water.

"Now what?" Blaze asked, shifting Cheese a little on her head.

"We hoof it back into the city," Knuckles said, sloshing in the direction of Station Square. Espio ushered Blaze and Rouge past him, allowing Tails to lag behind. The fox didn't mind: in fact, he rather liked being at the end, like he was important.

The slogged through the water for a long while, what Blaze felt must have been hours. She didn't complain, what with the fact that these adults had offered to protect both herself and Tails, and she was glad to had some sense of security.

Both the cat and the fox thought of Cream, about how they could have prevented her demise, even go so far as to prevent Marine's demise.

Rouge kept her ears perked up, her spot behind Knuckles granted because they were a useful tool. She halted them only once because she thought she heard something in the water, and they had moved on without complaint when they assured themselves that nothing was there. She hoped, dimly, that her aid was cleaning up her image to the two thieves, especially the echidna.

"Did you hear that?" Rouge asked, stopping so quickly that the line behind her trainwrecked into her backside.

"What?" Blaze asked, and was instantly shushed by the bat.

"There's something there," Rouge replied, drawing her gun. Knuckles and Espio followed suit, all three of them with weapons at the ready. The bat's ears flicked constantly as she raked the water with her eyes in the darkness.

There was a splash, and Tails screeched in pain. Buried in his lower thigh was the teeth of a zombie, a blue hedgehog. The hedgehog released its teeth long enough to rip away a chunk of flesh before gunshots filled the sewers. The zombie was dead after the first few shots, and before he knew it, Knuckles' gun had disappeared from his hand.

One final shot rang out after the bulk of them had died, and Blaze stood trembling, her arms straight out with the gun clutched in both hands. Tails' corpse fell unceremoniously into the water along with the hedgehog zombie.

"Chao..."_ -Well...-_, Cheese said quietly, "Chao Chao Ch, Cha Cho?" _-It was for the best, right?-_

"I don't know," Blaze whispered, returning Knuckles' gun to him.

"What did that thing say?" Espio whispered to Knuckled, and Rouge promptly stepped on his foot.

"We should get going," Knuckles said, "The train station isn't too far from here."

* * *

_AN: Tada, next chapter. Still pluggin away, and I'm not quite halfway done yet. Summer School coming up, but I've still got a few days before that. Also, HA! Making fun of my own loopholes via Silver and Sonic.  
_


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Holy shit," Jet muttered, staring at the horde.

"So this is where they all were," Wave breathed in awe, her shot gun held limply in her hands.

"What do we do, then?" Jet asked.

"We're going in," Wave said, "I just have a feeling that we need to."

"That's not a good enough reason," Jet replied, shaking his head.

"But Jet-"

"No way in hell."

"What if there are people in there?" Wave demanded. "Huh? What if there's some trapped child in there that doesn't know what they're doing? Or some elderly person?"

"Then they're already dead."

"Please don't talk like that," Wave whispered, her eyes downcast. Jet wouldn't allow himself to loose face: if he did, they would most likely be ripped apart by the hoard.

"Why not?" the hawk suddenly exploded, "Why shouldn't I talk like that? It's the truth, isn't it? Not half a day ago you went around like you were running the shots, emasculating me, and going around playing 'survivalist'. Now it's turned and you're trembling in fear.

"Exhilaration," Wave said, her eyes glinting dangerously in the gray of predawn.

"What?" Jet cocked an eyebrow.

"Exhilaration," Wave repeated, and went on to explain, "All my life I've been using a gun for play, to kill animals for a bit of meat but always with the safety net there. To play video games and read books and learn all these stories but have no substance behind them." She smiled. "But now I'm living it, living the danger and breaking out and away from the safety net. Haven't you always wanted something more... adventurous?"

Jet shifted uncomfortably under Wave's expectant expression.

"Frankly," Jet replied, "No, I haven't. I like my safety net-it keeps me alive."

"Then you're just a giant pussy," Wave growled, starting to make her way towards the hoard. Jet grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"I'm a pussy that's still alive," Jet snapped.

"You'll never go anywhere in life."

"But I'll still be breathing. I don't need to be the hero, Wave. I'm surprised you have to be."

"I don't have to be," Wave said with an indignant tone.

"Then what are you doing?" The true question was on Jet's face: Why are you trying to get us killed?

"I'm trying to make sure people are safe," Wave whispered.

"You're going to get us killed," Jet said flatly, "And I do mean us. I love you, Wave, and I'm not going to leave you alone to fend for yourself." He made sure he looked her right in the eye, "But so help me god, you want to fucking lead me straight to hell, don't you? Are you suicidal or something, Wave? Going in there is the same as having a fucking death wish! You got a death wish, Wave?"

Wave's eyes widened, and she blinked twice before her countenance took a sharp turn. Her eyes narrowed, her beak turned into a hard line, and her eyes glimmered almost sinisterly.

The swallow put her beak right up to Jet's ear and hissed, "No, I don't want to die. But I don't want to be a pussy-whipped little bitch like you, either. I want to live, I want to get out of here, I want to save any survivors, and I want to do it with a style all my own." She pulled her head back and looked Jet in the eye. Her face looked calm, but her eyes scared Jet shitless. "Now," Wave said in a quiet tone that matched her face, "Do you want to come with me, live, and look like a hero, or do you want to hide in a fucking corner and watch how the big kids play?"

Jet glared at Wave.

"I just want to go home."

"Your house is trashed!" Wave looked at Jet like a crazy person, "My house is trashed! Storm's dead, and so are our families! We have no home, no safe place. And neither does any other survivor." She stuck her finger in Jet's chest, "We have nothing."

"I'll go with you," Jet said moodily, "But I still don't think anyone's there.

As if in reply, gunshots could be heard from the other side of the horde, where Casinopolis was. Wave said nothing as she walked in the directions of the gunshots, but made sure she sent him the smuggest look she could.

* * *

Knuckles kissed his fist before slamming it full-on into the metal door before him. While it didn't smash the door down directly, it left a large dent. The echidna went berserk on the door, the slamming ringing through the sewers. The rest of the party had their backs to the echidna, the two adults standing with their guns at the ready and Blaze holding Knuckles' gun while he worked with the door.

With a clatter, the metal door rattled onto the concrete floor, bent beyond recognition. Knuckles kicked it out of the way and ushered the others through, retrieving his gun from Blaze.

Rouge was through first, confronted with the mass of stairs ahead. She leaped, taking stairs three at a time and using her unfurled wings for balance. Espio was close on her heels, his balance kept by some unseen force. Blaze, Cheese still perched atop her head, lagged only a little, alternating between two and three stairs. Knuckles quickly overtook her and kept running on, easily catching up with the other adults. Each of them was skilled enough one way or another to avoid tripping up on the stairs, and all of them were wise enough to save their breath for breathing.

At one landing they stopped, Rouge panting hardest. Blaze's nostrils flared as she breathed through them, and no one said anything. The sound of respiration filled the room, and once they had all caught their breath, they continued their climb.

They all knew they needed to get to the final landing, the one at the very top. Before that, there would be no getting out.

In the darkness each was trapped with their thoughts, bound to each other only by the sound of breathing.

Rouge's mind flashed back to her high school days, days filled with douche bags that could only make 'that's what she said' jokes, could only bother her, could only deserve this horrible tragedy that befell Station Square.

No, that wasn't right. Rouge truly hated no one, was only annoyed or angered by them. No living creature deserved this catastrophe, but more importantly, she didn't deserve this catastrophe. Out of all the shit she had had to deal with, this was the worst she had ever had to fuck with.

_Thank God for my luck,_ Rouge though bitterly as she bitterly ran on.

Behind her, Espio thanked any and all gods he knew, glad enough his family-mother and father and siblings-were far away, back home in another country. Station Square, hell the Federation, was supposedly a great country. It was, too, at first. It glistened and shone, dipped in platinum and safe in a plastic casing. It was a wonderful country-that is, if you were a native. Hell, even if you were a native and didn't look it you had to be careful of the racial zealots.

He was lucky, lucky enough to have a gift with accents and languages, lucky enough to be able to blend in so well. But not quite lucky enough to get a job, to make a living, to bring his family to see this world so beautifully packaged. It was because beneath all that shiny packaging it was a disgusting product, full of flaws that may have been worse than the ones back home.

_Damn this land of double standards, flytrap that it is,_ Espio thought to himself.

The red echidna thought of childhood, of the happy times he had always had with his little sister Tikal. They had no family, both of them abandoned at an orphanage, had no friends, and no one but each other for the longest time.

While Tikal had protested at first, she understood the necessity of Knuckles' taking up stealing. She never helped him to go stealing, but she had been the one to find Espio for him, and Dust-on-Wind, the one to find the three of them a place to stay on occasion. As much as Knuckles wasn't so fond of admitting, Tikal did most of the hard work. He was just a common thief.

Blaze found herself reflecting her current situation. She had no parents, both her siblings were dead, and a Chao wasn't much for family, no matter how smart it is. She wasn't all the way through high school and wasn't likely to go to college at this rate, assuming she survived this nightmare.

The cat hated the fact that she had let Cream and Tails die. She figured she wasn't responsible for her parents' deaths, she wasn't even there when they went. Blaze couldn't be sure, though, that she couldn't have helped, maybe even called 911. But the phones weren't working that day, that wouldn't have mattered one way or another.

There was still Cream and Tails. Marine was doomed from the start, if Blaze's guess was correct. There was no way she could have prevented the bite, unless she called ahead. But Blaze hadn't known about the bite before hand, and she couldn't have warned her friend. Cream could have been saved, though, and Blaze knew it. All it would have taken was a firmer 'no', or something else. This situation was a life-or-death one, Blaze knew, but she couldn't bring herself to say 'no', to take authority, like Tails had demanded her to.

And what of Tails' demise? Blaze didn't think she was the one who pushed him to the monster, but she could have at least tried to keep her brother alive, to keep him until he turned into a monster himself.

He was already a monster, and she knew it.

Blaze had killed Tails for her own selfishness, and she was slowly becoming aware of the fact. She hadn't put the bullet in him because she was afraid of his becoming a monster, she took him down because she didn't want more criticism.

His eyes still got to her, accusing as he had fallen despite their lifelessness, and she hated him for it.

They stopped at another landing, each of them panting harder than before. They kept their words and thoughts hidden in their labored breath, each wondering whether or not continuing would bring them to a death of gunfire and being eaten, or whether they would be freed from this hell.

Blaze let herself drop on one of the steps of the next flight.

"I need... to sit," she panted, and she felt one of the adults sit next to her. It was Espio, and Rouge plopped down on her other side.

"Are you all right?" the bat asked. Blaze replied with a grunt.

"That's not an answer," Rouge said, and repeated her question, "You all right?"

Blaze thought a second and sighed. "I don't know if I am," she replied, "I should feel like shit, but right now, I'm just relieved that I don't have to worry about two little kids."

"Two?"

"There was a young rabbit with Tails and I earlier. She got bit, and turned into one of those monsters," Blaze explained.

Rouge's eyes widened a little. That explained the cat's unwavering speed when she had killed Tails.

"Was she a friend?"

"She was my little sister."

There was silence as Blaze stood up, her breathing returned mostly to normal.

"I'm ready to continue," the cat said, starting up the stairs again. Knuckles was right behind her, with Espio and Rouge behind him.

As the ascended this time, Blaze was easily taking three steps at a time, keeping ahead of the four adults with her. She let her shame and anger at herself move her body and give her strength as Cheese perched uneasily on her head. All there was was the sound of hurried steps that echoed throughout the stairwell, pounding against eardrums and heartbeats.

The cat made it to the top first, accidentally using the rail to try and go up another flight of stairs and running into concrete.

"Fuck," she hissed, retreating from the wall.

"Where's the door?" Rouge asked, looking around in the dark.

"Should be over here," Knuckles said, feeling his way along the wall until he came to a handle. He opened the door quietly, and whispered, "Over here."

The other three went through the door the echidna had opened for them, Rouge slinking out first, followed by Espio, Blaze, and Knuckles respectively.

"Go right," Knuckles whispered to Rouge, and the bat obeyed, heading to her right with a hand against the wall until she could go no farther, stopped as she was by a wall.

"There's a door along the wall in front of us, and I don't think it's an emergency door."

Rouge grunted in reply and felt for the door, finding it after a few minutes and quietly pushing it open.

An alarm screeched at them, and each party member had their own curse to say for the fact. The bat slammed the door open and burst out of it, the other three right on her heels.

* * *

The two brothers said nothing, each letting their guns speak for them in barking tones. Silver resisted the urge to close his eyes as he shot, and was scared of the gun's bucking. Shadow, on the other hand, was calm and composed, his eyes only half shut as he unloaded bullet after bullet into the horde that had invaded the casino.

Both of the hedgehogs had taken cover behind a row of poker tables, shooting around at the zombies as they approached. The backpack full of ammunition was at their feet, making it easy enough for them to reload when either of them ran out of bullets.

Shadow was leaning on the table, his stomach flat against it and his elbows resting on the table. He shot deftly, getting several head shots and hitting zombie flesh almost every time. Silver followed his brother's lead, using the table to steady his trembling hands as he shot, improving his accuracy greatly.

A gunshot replied to one of Shadow's.

The hedgehogs thought nothing of it, each of them figuring that they had imagined it, continuing their onslaught. Zombies continued to fall, some dropping like sacks of concrete while others struggled until more lead was packed into them.

One of the tables near the brothers made a cracking noise, like a large wooden stick breaking. Shadow noticed it then.

There was another set of gunshots.

The elder hedgehog stopped his younger brother, and another gunshot cracked, barking out its existence.

"There's someone else!" Silver cried happily, dropping his gun and almost leaping atop the table to join the others. Shadow grabbed him by the wrist.

"We've got to get low, and continue to deal with them. Do you understand?" Shadow kept Silver's eyes commanded with his ruby ones. Silver nodded, picking his gun back up and ducking below the table with his brother.

The barking of gunshots filled the casino, and heaps of undead were everywhere. Silver carefully inched around them, his elder brother simply shoving them aside. After a while, the hedgehogs could hear a couple of voices behind the gunshots, but they were too preoccupied with their own survival to notice the youth in the voices.

"There they are, Jet," a female voice called aloud, and another gunshot sounded. A zombie fell right across Shadow and Silver's path, causing the brothers to jump in fright.

Shadow looked up to see a bloodied swallow wielding a reddened shotgun in her hands, her eyes fierce as she shot the zombies between them. The brothers, as well as the green hawk that seemed to be accompanying the swallow, helped to clear the path of the undead, finally finishing the job with a large, purple cat.

"Are you all right?" the cold-eyed swallow asked, lowering her shotgun expertly and looking Shadow in the eyes.

Shadow nodded. "Yes, thanks in part to you." He held out his hand, "Shadow the hedgehog." The swallow took the offered hand and gave it a single, firm shake before releasing it. Shadow indicated his brother, "This is Silver."

The swallow nodded her head in recognition. "I'm Wave, and this is Jet." She put her hand around her boyfriend's hip.

Jet flashed a weak smile before his stomach gargled obnoxiously. He blushed slightly, the red hidden by his jade feathers, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh, do you have any food?" Silver asked, looked at them with a worried expression.

Wave shook her head. "Not much," she replied, "Mostly ammunition."

"We have some," Shadow said, "But we're running low on ammo. Shall we stick together?"

"You want to trade food for protection?" Wave asked. Shadow nodded.

"It would be safer with more of us," he said.

"I'm all for it," Jet said. Wave agreed.

"Silver?" Shadow asked his little brother.

The younger hedgehog gave a weary smile and said, "As long as I'm not cooking."

* * *

_AN: Hey there all. A few things-school's starting up soon, but as I said, I'd like to finish this by the end of summer, and I definately plan to do it before fall starts. About the story itself, I did have the conversation between Jet and Wave reflect part of the book _Malice._ Thanks for reading!_


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The first thing Blaze noticed as she caught her breath was that the sky was starting to brighten. The last twenty four-hours had been hell, but she did her best not to dwell on them.

Knuckles seemed to be hit pretty hard by all the running; the red echidna panted far heavier than the rest of them, and was bent double and pitiful to look at.

"How are you holding up, Blaze?" Rouge asked, putting a hand of the cat's shoulder. Blaze just shrugged.

"Cha chao chao cha cha chao?" _-That's not much of an answer, Blaze,-_ Cheese commented dryly. The cat glared at the Chao.

"Shut up, Cheese. It's not like you've been helping any."

"Chao chao cha cho cha chao!" _-What the hell am I supposed to do!-_ Cheese barked at her.

"I don't know," Blaze snapped, "Be useful? Find us ammo, or other people, or hell, I don't know, something that's helpful!" The lavender cat's face was contorted in fury and she glared around at the adults as well as up at the Chao atop her head.

"You need to calm down-" Espio started calmly.

"Calm down?" Blaze screeched, turning her tirade towards the chameleon.

"Yes, or you will draw unwanted attention."

"I don't give a fuck at this point," the cat screamed, "Let them try to get me, I don't fucking care! They've taken my family and friends, they may as well come and get me too. God knows I'm going to hell anyway, why the fuck should I wait?" Her chest heaved with fury, and Cheese removed himself from Blaze's head, hovering in the air to her left and out of arm's reach.

All of a sudden, there was a stinging feel radiating from Blaze's right cheek, and Espio had somehow moved forward.

"You may have lost your will," he said quietly, "But I have not lost mine. You, little girl, will put up or shut up. Do you understand me?"

Blaze nodded, a little wide-eyed. She subconsciously grabbed her upper left arm with her right hand and averted her gaze from the others. Cheese landed back on her head and patted her gently.

Knuckles clapped his hands together. "We need to get going."

"Where to?" Rouge asked, gesturing with her hand, "We've got nothing, no where to go, and we're not sure if there are even any other survivors left."

The four of them stood quiet, each alert for sound and nothing else as they thought.

"I can try searching from the air," Rouge said, something like finality in her voice. The rest of them murmered agreement.

"Where do we go then?" Blaze asked.

"What do you mean?" Espio gave her a wary eye.

"If you go off, you're probably going to take a weapon with you, and we'll need a place to hole up while you go search."

"Chao cha cha chao?"_ -How about outside the City Hall?- _Cheese suggested.

"Huh?" the three adults asked in unison.

"He saying we should stay right outside City Hall," Blaze translated.

"I'm not quite sure of that," Espio said, "City Hall would be a little too heavily populated, most likely. But I do know of a small diner near by. You know the place I'm talking about Knuckles?"

"Yeah," the echidna replied, "You're suggesting the back room of the diner?"

Espio nodded.

"It's near City Hall?" Rouge asked.

The two thieves nodded together.

"Come with us on the way there," Blaze said, grabbing Rouge as she turned to leave, "That way you know exactly where we are." Rouge blinked once, and then smiled.

"Okay, I'll stick with you guys on the way there."

Without another word, Knuckles and Espio lead the way. Each of them moved as silently as possible, and they instinctively kept a large distance between themselves and any undead they found.

"Hold up," Rouge whispered, her ears perking up as they down the street from the diner.

"There's some out there?" Knuckles asked, deeper inside the alleyway.

"A lot of them, I think," the bat replied.

"I'll go have a look," Espio said, and he vanished.

"Huh?" Blaze's eyes widened.

"It's cool," the air said in Espio's voice, "I'll be back in a second."

Rouge followed the chameleon's movements with her ears, occasionally loosing track of where he was. Blaze resisted the urge to collapse, to sit, because she knew she wouldn't be able both physically or mentally to rise again, and she didn't want to lean against the wall because Knuckles was. Knuckles had his arms folded and waited, thinking of every job he had messed up in the past and how he could have done it better. It was a mental game he played with himself, one that both calmed him and kept him alert.

"This doesn't look so good," Espio said, reappearing beside Knuckles.

"How bad, then?" Knuckles asked.

"Getting into the diner's going to be near impossible."

"Anywhere else nearby then?"

"The jewelry store, where we lifted that metallic Chao egg from," Espio said, motioning the others to come to the mouth of the alleyway. "It's a quick dash down the street and a duck inside the door. There's nothing in there, but there's still plenty outside."

"We can do it," Blaze said.

"Unlikely," Rouge said, examining the undead loitering in the street.

"They seem to be blind though-"

"With impressive hearing," Rouge said.

"I still think we can do this."

"I agree with the kid," Knuckles said, sighing mentally, "If we're quiet enough, we should be able to sneak past them."

"I'm not staying for this," Rouge said bluntly, "You can hide there-I know where to find you now. I'll be back by sundown, and hopefully I'll have found someone." The bat ran back up the alleyway, leaping and pushing herself into the air with a powerful down stroke.

"C'mon," Knuckles said, grabbing Blaze by the upper arm and treading carefully out of the alleyway. Espio was ahead of them, leading the way silently around the undead.

_At least we smell like shit,_ Blaze thought off-handedly, _they won't be able to pick us out by scent if we smell as shitty as they do._

There was a crunching noise as Knuckles accidentally stepped wrong on a tiny rock, and the trio winced as several nearby undead turned towards them. Blaze looked at Knuckles with a worried look and gave him a 'Shh' signal as she bent down and snatched up the rock silently. She licked her dirty lips, cocked her arm back, and tossed the rock a fair distance up the street, shattering the far window she had been aiming for.

**Go! **she mouthed, and Knuckles yanked her the rest of the way to the store, ducking inside as Espio shut the door as quietly and quickly as he could.

"Impressive," Knuckles commented quietly, staring out the front window.

"I did track and field at school," Blaze said, averting her gaze.

"It was a good idea," Espio said, looking over the gun he had in his possession, "You're more useful to us than something like a tennis player or something like that."

"Thank you both," Blaze said.

"For what?" Knuckles asked.

"You're trying to cheer me up, and you've been doing your best to keep me safe," Blaze explained.

"It isn't for your sake," Knuckles said bluntly.

"Oh," Blaze said quietly, again putting her hand around her upper arm and looking silently out the front window of the shop.

"Why are we here again?" Silver asked nervously, eying the architectural achievement that was the Station Square Train Station.

"To grab some food from the motel," Wave said, "It's a shitty little joint, but it's bound to have food." The swallow looked cautiously around a corner, getting a good view of the steps of the train station and all the undead in the streets. She waved the others to hurry, and covered them as they dashed across the street with Shadow in front and Silver bringing up the rear. As the three boys made it across the street, Wave made her own dash, keeping low and with her gun at the ready.

They slunk into the building behind the barrels of their guns, looking around in awe.

"Where are they?" Silver asked, his worry on display.

"They probably stumbled out the doors. Doesn't this place have a pair of sliding doors?" Jet looked around at the others.

"Yeah," Shadow replied, "One pair as the main entrance, and one leading to the pool."

"So we took a back way?" Wave asked, her eyes anywhere but on her traveling companions. Shadow nodded.

"Friends of mine showed me the back way in back in middle school," Shadow explained, "And the kitchen's not too far from here. Follow me."

The black hedgehog peeked his head around a corner before he strode quickly down the hall, his gun in a somewhat relaxed position. There was a door at the end of the hall, which he opened slightly and squinted through before slowly opening it and waving the others through. Jet passed through first, followed by Silver then Wave, who gave him a small nod.

When he was through the door, Shadow gingerly closed it, letting it rest in the jamb more than actually closing it.

"The pantry's on the other side of the kitchen," the black hedgehog whispered to Wave. She nodded, signaling the others to stay put as she slunk over to the large doors on the other side. As the swallow slowly made her way to the other side, she held her shotgun lightly in her right hand and was alert for any sounds.

Wave quietly nudged the door to the pantry open, her eyes adapted well enough to the dark to let her know about how big the room was and nothing more. She let herself into the room slowly, cocking her gun as quietly as possible before letting herself sit and listen.

"I've got a flashlight," Shadow whispered in Wave's ear, causing the swallow to jump.

"When'd you get here?" she hissed.

"Just now. You want me to use the flashlight?" the hedgehog whispered back.

"Yeah," Wave said, and squinted by reflex when the light invaded the room. Wave opened her eyes as tentatively as though she were removing a band-aid. There was nothing, and she found herself shocked at her disappointment.

"Cool," Shadow said, standing, "I'll go grab the others." He strode quietly out of the pantry with his light. Wave rose and rested her gun on her shoulder, her hand holding it limply.

The light preceded the three boys, and did a jig as Shadow removed his pack. He went first, sticking the flashlight in his teeth as he carefully picked out foodstuffs and put them into his pack. When the elder hedgehog had finished, he waved Silver over and told the younger what to take.

"Let's crash in here for a bit," Shadow suggested once the packs were filled with food.

"Why?" Jet asked, his arms folded.

"Because I don't know about you two, but I'm running on fumes at this point."

"Let's then," Wave said, sitting in the doorway. "Give me the light."

Shadow slipped the flashlight into Wave's palm and laid down at the back of the room with his pack as a crude pillow.

"Thank you," Silver said, emulating his brother and falling asleep almost instantly.

"Why?" Jet asked, sitting next to Wave.

"This room is easy to defend, Jet," Wave said.

"Not what I meant. Why are you the guard?"

"Because I offered," Wave said coldly, "You should sleep too. I'll wake someone up in a bit, and sleep then. Okay?"

"I don't know..." Jet turned his face away from Wave. The swallow narrowed her eyes and grabbed the hawk's face forcibly, turning it towards her and giving him a hard kiss, beak-to-beak.

"I'm not loosing you," she said, her face darker because of the light, "So you be on your toes and get your sleep. Got it?"

Jet gave a little smile. "Yeah," he said, "But I'm sleeping here." He rested his head on her shoulder and fell asleep within ten minutes.

As soon as she was sure the boys were asleep, Wave clicked off the flashlight and bit her lower lip until she tasted blood. She poked at the wound she had made with her tongue, annoyed that it wasn't painful yet. The swallow then systematically started prodding herself, counting all the scrapes, cuts, and bruises she had earned over the last twenty-four hours. Wave thought vaguely of her family, of her friends, but mostly of Jet, the defenseless hawk on her shoulder.

Wave smiled, the usually warm gesture turned into a mockery of itself when complimented by her icy eyes.

When the swallow felt herself starting to succumb to sleep, she gently removed Jet from her shoulder and silently woke Shadow. The black hedgehog woke unaccompanied by sound and took the flashlight from Wave. He then took her position at the door as Wave laid down next to Jet with her arm around him.

The black hedgehog resisted the urge to cry and instead started thinking of names where the last letters were in alphabetical order. He didn't remember the origin of this game, but he knew it worked especially well when he got to the letter Q.

Long after Shadow finally gave up and skipped Q thrice, Silver woke with a yawn.

"Anything?" the young hedgehog asked to nothing in particular.

"Nothing's changed, Silver," Shadow replied with a weary smile, "If it had, you'd be up by now."

"Do you... need more sleep?" Silver asked sheepishly.

"I'm fine," Shadow said, "Why, what is it?"

"You're not guarding us, kid," Wave said coldly from where she lay.

"You're up?" Silver asked, wide-eyed.

"You started talking-of course I'm up," Wave said quietly, sitting up, "But he'll probably be out for a little bit longer."

"Morning person?" Shadow asked with a smirk.

"You know it," Wave said wryly.

The three awake got their supplies together and made any last-minute checks they felt necessary before Jet woke. Silver rose at one point and started pacing, asking for the flashlight so he could check the shelves for something they could eat for breakfast.

The hawk woke slowly, and stared up at Wave's face from her lap.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Considering you, probably past noon," Wave said curtly.

"Damn, what'd I do?"

"You slept later than the rest of us, Jet."

"Hey," Silver said, waving around a box he had found, "Here's some Pop-Tarts!" He ripped it open and handed a package to his brother and offered one each to both Wave and Jet. Each bird took the breakfast item and ate, Wave nibbling while Jet tore into his.

"Where'd you find these, Silver?" Shadow asked.

"Stuffed in a corner, more or less."

"Why are there Pop-Tarts here?" Jet asked after taking a large bite.

"I dunno. Probably for a continental breakfast or something. Isn't this one of the smaller hotels?"

"Yeah," Jet said, finishing his breakfast.

When the four of them had finished their food, they rose, Shadow in front as he led the way back out. The black hedgehog ducked his way out the door before holding it wide open for the others. They made their way carefully down the alleyway, each of them wrapped up in the other three around them or the concrete and bricks.

Before Silver looked up.

"Hey, up there!"

Four sets of eyes stared skyward to see a figure in the late-morning sky.

* * *

_AN: Nowhere near the end, but I do plan on getting this finished by the 21st. However, it will be uploaded the Sunday after, due to my lack of internet at home._


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The figure in the sky lowered slowly, doing little figure-eights in the sky as it descended. Wave cocked her gun, as did Shadow and Jet, until the creature was safely five yards away from them and on the ground. It was a woman-a bat-in a dingy police uniform.

"Are you survivors?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Wave responded, her gun trained on the bat, "You?"

"I am," the bat replied, "And there are others with me."

"Have any of them been bitten?" Shadow asked warily.

The bat shook her head, "None of the ones we've kept with us."

Silver observed the bat and notice something glint on her hip.

"Shadow," the younger hedgehog whispered, "She's got a gun." The elder brother gave a tiny nod of his head in response.

"Advance," Wave said, lowering her gun, "And hold that gun up so we can see it nice and clear."

The bat nodded and unholstered her gun, holding it high in her right hand as she walked catily over. Wave motioned for Shadow and Jet to lower the guns they had, and both boys complied slowly.

"What's your name?" Wave asked, giving the woman a twice-over.

"Rouge. What about you kids?"

The three boys looked to Wave, who spoke. "I'm Wave, Rouge."

"Jet."

"I'm Shadow, and this is my little brother Silver."

The five of them stood for a while as Rouge and Wave stared at each other, the two ladies sizing each other up.

"Uh," Silver said finally, "Where are your other people?"

"Down the street," Rouge said, "I was actually on my way back to them when I saw you."

"How's your ammo situation? Food?" Shadow asked.

"We've mostly got ammo and manpower."

Shadow and Wave gave each other a look.

"How many?"

"Four in all," Rouge said, with the feeling of fighting a loosing battle, "Three adults including myself, all of us good shots, and a girl about your age." She pointed at Wave.

"How's she holding up?"

"Pretty well, and she's fast. Shot her brother when he got turned." Silver cringed behind Shadow. Wave turned and looked at each of her party members before turning to Rouge.

"Sweeten the deal," she said.

"The other two adults have motivation to help others."

"They cops?"

"Uh, no. But they know this town extremely well, even the sewers."

"Lot of good the sewers'll do us," Shadow said with a snort, "It's crawling with 'em."

"We'll go. Lead the way," Wave said, hoisting her gun up again. Rouge nodded and took to the air, keeping close to the rooftops. The four kids ran below, Wave and Shadow side-by-side with Silver behind them and Jet bringing up the rear. They burst out of the alleyway and into the street.

"They're down the street, in the jewelry shop," Rouge shouted down, "I'll bring them out, and we'll meet you halfway." The bat was then off before the kids could say anything and out of sight before they realized what had happened. They stopped.

"Anyone know this jewelry store she's talking about?" Jet asked.

"Yeah," Silver said quietly, "It's about a mile or so, and I see it on the way to school every day."

"Show the way then," Wave commanded.

"We just go east for a bit-though the street curves around," Silver explained, "We just stay on Kapella."

"Cool," Wave said, heading in the direction indicated. They walked quickly, Silver proud of himself to the point of smiling.

The street was littered with cars, bags, the occasional carriage, bikes, any number of hats, a skate board, and was nothing more than a shimmer of broken glass. There were no bodies. The sun reflected fire off of the windows of the buildings and the crunching glass beneath their feet. The entire town burned in noon light, and the crunching of glass became stronger as a moaning joined it.

"Shadow?" Silver asked, terror on his face and in his voice.

"I hear it," Shadow said, picking up his pace. The two birds followed the hedgehogs' example and broke into a trot, the four of them spurred by adrenaline.

The first one came out of nowhere, and looked like a tiny version of Jet with a red neckerchief tied to it. The hawk swung his hunting rifle around by the barrel, catching the little monster by the temple and sending it flying.

A blast sounded as Wave fired at what looked like a monstrous polar bear, and it fell, a sack of cement. Shadow was at her side instantly, firing one round after another into the approaching crowd.

"We should retreat as we fight," the hedgehog said, and Wave nodded. Silver looked in the direction they were going, and winced as he handed a cartridge to his older brother.

"Shadow, there's more there!"

"Shit," Shadow and Wave hissed in unison as they both glanced at the creatures advancing from behind.

"Silver, can you try to take some of those out?" Shadow asked. Silver flinched. "I need you to do this," the older hedgehog repeated sternly. The young hedgehog nodded and looked at the approaching mass.

"I'll try." Silver hoisted his backpack up and left it unzipped enough for easy access at the ammunition inside. He then carefully took aim into the mass, but faltered.

"They're not people," Wave said without a look at Silver, "They're targets. If you can't handle that, you deserve to be their prey." A gunshot was Silver's reply, followed by the crunch of glass.

"I'll help you, kid," Jet said with an encouraging smile as he turned to the oncoming group.

The bold hawk froze, and Wave bumped into him.

"Wave..." The swallow turned and her eyes widened as the stood beside her boyfriend.

It was on them in an instant.

Shadow turned after an inhuman scream was ejected from Jet and a gunblast had come from Silver. At the bleeding hawk's feet was a silvery albatross with a hole in its head and a bullet in its brains.

Wave glared up at the up coming monsters. "We need to go," she said, cocking her gun. "Run-I'll follow." The hedgehog brothers stared at her as Jet mumbled angry curses.

"Go, fuckers!" Wave screamed, and Shadow and Silver jumped. The two hedgehogs hoisted up Jet and ran, Wave running with them as she sent shell after shell into the herd. They tore down an alleyway and ducked into a building they found.

When Wave had deemed them safe enough, she turned her face to Jet and gasped despite herself.

"I'm not going to make it, am I?" Jet asked, blood trickling out of the corner of his beak.

"Yes you are!" Wave cried forcefully.

"No he's not," Shadow said.

"He will!" Wave screeched.

"He won't. That's a deep wound, and based off what that Rouge woman said, getting bitten is death."

"Shadow..." Silver said, tugging at his brother's arm, "We should let them be." The elder hedgehog looked from the swallow to the hawk and nodded.

"I'll give you ten minutes before I do it myself."

Shadow ducked outside, Silver following him with a worried glance at Wave and Jet.

"What now?" Jet asked.

"I don't know," Wave said quietly, dropping to her knees beside Jet.

"I don't want to turn into one of those things."

"I know."

"I'm terrified," the hawk confessed, finally removing his hand from the monstrous bite in his gut.

"I know." Wave put her arms around the man she had loved since childhood and gave his shoulders a tight squeeze.

"When I die," Jet said quietly, "I'll keep a watch over you guys, and make sure you don't die, Wave. I'll make sure you get out alive, and that nothing-not bullets, or zombies, or greedy fuckers-nothing kills you but old age."

"Don't say that. Please, don't say that." Wave buried her face in Jet's shoulder.

"He's right though. I am doomed, I can feel it." Jet pulled Wave's face up to his own. "I love you," he said, giving her a hard kiss on the beak. Despite herself, she only limply responded.

"I don't want you to go, Jet. If you're gone, I'll follow you."

"No you won't," Jet gave her a stony look. "You help those poor bastards out of this shit hole, you got me?"

"I don't know if I can."

"I'll be there, whether you see me or not, Wave. I'll make sure you can."

"You won't leave my side?"

"Not for all the angels in heaven or demons in hell."

Wave gave a weak smile. "That's poetic. Where'd you hear it?"

"Probably in church."

"Say hi to the others."

"Will do."

"I'm sure we'll be out of time soon."

"Wave-" Jet put his hand on the swallow's shoulder.

"What?" She knew the answer.

"I want you to send me on my way," he said.

"But you said you wouldn't leave my side!" she cried.

"You know what I mean, joker," Jet said with a weak smile.

"I know, you jackass" Wave replied, trembling to her feet.

"Hey, just waste one bullet putting this jackass down, okay?"

Wave said nothing as she dealt with her gun. She loaded it, made sure there was no safety on, and rested it against her shoulder. She widened her stance, took a deep breath, and emptied her mind. Her hands steadied, her finger tensed, and she whispered, "I love you."

The gunshot was accompanied by a single tear that caught the light of the reflecting sun.

* * *

Rouge took the most direct route she could, cutting over buildings and shading her eyes. She kept Kapella street in view as she flew, and occasionally let herself stare at her reflection in the windows she flew past.

The bat landed as silently as possible, keeping an eye on the few undead that meandered around the area. She quietly cracked opened the door of the jewelry store, squeezing around the door to let herself inside. Her eyes quickly adjusted and told her the others were gone.

"Dammit," Rouge hissed to herself as she picked her way around the store. She looked around the counters and behind cases. The bat then made her way towards the back room and tripped over a metallic object with a thud and a cry.

There was a click and two guns were in Rouge's face in a heartbeat.

"Guys, wait!" Blaze's voice was soft but pleading, and the guns were replaced by both Knuckles' and Espio's outstretched hands. Rouge allowed the two men to help her up and she angrily kicked at the thing she had tripped over.

"What is that thing?" she asked.

"It's used for cleaning jewelry," Espio answered, "You can usually hear them in jewelry stores if you listen."

"And why's it there?"

"To trip up any zombies," Knuckles explained, "And instead it got the ever-aware cop."

"Piss off," Rouge growled.

"Hey!" Blaze said, coming as best she could between her elders, "Rouge, did you find anyone?" The bat blinked and stared at Blaze. She then nodded as she realized the question being asked.

"Yes I did. A group of kids about your age, Blaze. Maybe a little older. Their leader seemed trustworthy, and mature."

"I don't know," Espio said.

"The leader seemed as though she didn't need us, like she was doing us the favor," Rouge mentioned.

"Fuck 'em then," Espio replied.

"No, we'll go get them," Knuckles said, "Anyone else?"

"No, there were no other survivors that I could see."

"Can we go now then?" Blaze asked, excited at the thought of meeting others her age-perhaps they went to her school.

As Blaze, Cheese, and Espio headed for the exit, Knuckles grabbed Rouge by the arm.

"Why'd you come back?" Knuckles asked, eying her warily.

"Huh?"

"You've got no reason to return-why'd you come back?"

Rouge blinked. She didn't know the answer, and leaving had never crossed her mind when she went out.

"I don't know," Rouge replied with a shrug as she turned to follow the others.

Knuckles gave her back a look of doubt as he whispered, "Idiot."

The four of them exited the building silently, Rouge leading the way from high in the air while Blaze was sandwiched between Knuckles and Espio as they ran along.

From the air Rouge kept her eyes cast downwards, both keeping an eye on her group and looking out for the other kids. Knuckles' question kept bothering her, but she couldn't come up with a legitimate reason for why she had returned. Now that she gave it a thought, she could leave right now, fly away over the tops of the buildings and remain untouchable to the undead below.

Rouge started to debate with herself over why she came back. Maybe it was to help this Tikal girl by staying beside Knuckles? That couldn't be it-so long as her job didn't demand it, Rouge would never help someone she'd never met before. Perhaps it was for Blaze's sake? No. If it had, she would have just carried the cat with her. But that didn't seem like the thing to do-something about leaving the guys behind didn't settle quite right...

If it was a case of the men-which was unlikely-which one was it?

Standing in alleyway Rouge spotted two figures and swooped down to get a better look.

"Hey, it's the cop," the smaller of the two said, and Rouge made them both out to be hedgehogs.

"Rouge," the larger one called, "Are your people on the way?"

"Yes," the bat said, and realized why this scene looked wrong. "Where are the other two?"

"Inside," Shadow said, "I suggest getting your guys and-"

The door opened and Wave stepped out of the building, a few green feathers tucked in her shoe.

"Lead us to your friends," the swallow said flatly, hoisting up her gun. Rouge blinked, but said nothing as she turned and flew back in the direction of the others.

"So you did it?" Shadow asked quietly as they hustled after Rouge.

Wave said nothing.

They came out of the alleyway and saw the other group immediately, both parties stopping within twenty feet of each other. Rouge landed beside Knuckles.

"You survivors?" the red echidna asked.

"Yes," Wave responded.

"Can you shoot?"

"Silver can't," Wave motioned to the younger hedgehog, "He carries things without complaint, though."

"Have any of you been bitten?"

"No."

The wind crept by like a stalking cat.

"Ammo?"

"We could use more," Wave let her shotgun rest on her shoulder.

"Food?"

"Just restocked."

"Need sleep soon?"

"Just got some, but more would be nice."

"Fine," Knuckles said, "Let's get going then."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Think we can hole up in that burger joint for a bit?" Blaze asked, pointing across the street, "There we can come up with a plan of how to escape." They had headed through back alleys parallel to Kapella street, the main street in Station Square, for defense.

Rouge and Knuckles took a look down the street before waving the others across. Each of the others hauled ass across the street, with Espio and Wave out in front. The swallow hit the door first, ripping it open for the others to dash through before letting herself inside.

Silver was slumped over the table he sat at, his older brother alert through bloodshot eyes. The cat, Blaze, was across from them, her head propped up lazily by her fist. The echidna and chameleon were both leaning against walls, and the bat was sitting on a table. Wave walked inside and sat with her feet in a boot and her butt atop the back of the booth so that she commanded a good view.

"We need to get out of here," she said, and the others looked at her.

"Thanks, Captain of the Obvious," Blaze shot back, "Any other bits of wisdom for us."

Wave glared at the cat.

"I don't see you manning up and trying to take control of the situation," she said shortly.

"I had to kill my little siblings," Blaze roared.

"And you're letting it get to you."

"Kids," Rouge said, but Knuckles cut her off with a look.

"I doubt you had to do anything like that-knowing you, you don't have any friends!" Blaze jumped to her feet. Silver opened his mouth to say something, but Shadow silenced him by shaking his head.

Wave looked down from her perch. She had seen the brothers' actions and smiled inwardly at the thought.

"That's how you know I'm doing a good job keeping my head together," Wave said coldly, "You don't think I've lost anybody. And I haven't, not really. Unless you count my family and friends as somebody, that is."

Blaze blinked.

"Survival is important at this point, not who's done what."

The cat sat down, and Knuckles nudged himself off of the wall.

"We need to get out of here," the echidna repeated, "And as simple as that sounds, it's going to be a pain in the ass if we're not prepared. First, I want to take stock of what we've got now."

Shadow rose, went to an unoccupied table and carefully unloaded his back pack. Silver followed suit, as did the others. There were several small piles of ammunition, and a decent pile of food for the four people it had been gathered for. For all seven of them, though, it wouldn't last more than two days. The medicine was placed on a different table along with the bottles of water, and all the guns except for Wave's shotgun were left on a third table.

"There's not much of the water left," Silver said with a small hint of worry to his voice.

"How much did you get in the first place?" Knuckles asked the older hedgehog.

"Twelve bottles, four for each of us," Shadow replied.

"There's only eight here."

"Sonic's dead now-his bottles went with him."

Knuckles nodded.

"What kinds of meds you get?" the echidna asked as he pawed through the medicine.

"Whatever I could grab before having to run," Shadow replied, "And I tried to grab a lot of band-aids, gauze, and triple-antibiotic."

"You thought ahead," Knuckles commented.

"I had two little brothers to look after." Shadow shrugged.

The red echidna gave Silver a good hard look.

"You can't shoot?"

"Not very well, sir," the younger hedgehog replied timidly.

"Can you run?"

"I'm not the best."

"How the hell'd you survive then?"

"Luck, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Look, I don't know!" Silver cried, "I'm surprised too! I'm surprised Sonic died and not me-I can't help I'm not him! I'm not as popular, I'm not as strong, and I'm not as brave, and I know it! You think every one else has kept it a secret from me?" Silver glared up at Knuckles, "I know Sonic was the better twin! I know he had more love from both our parents! What the fuck am I supposed to do? Be something I'm not? Sure, I'll go do that!"

"Silver," Shadow said, grabbing his brother's shoulder. The younger hedgehog shrugged off the elder's hand and he continued.

"I don't give a fuck anymore-I'm tired of damn well having to compete with him, even after he's gone and gotten his dumb shit stupid ass self killed! I hope he burns, and I hope all those other fuckers who thought I wasn't as good as the 'great Sonic the Hedgehog' finally fucking see who wound up on top!"

Silver's shoulders heaved up and down while Knuckles gave a little smile.

"Now I see how you made it," the red echidna said, going back to the piles.

The younger hedgehog gave Knuckles a confused look but said nothing as he plopped down in a seat nearby.

Wave was picking through the ammunition when Knuckles came over to her.

"What's your story?" he asked.

"How's that?" she responded, sorting the ammo.

"How come you're not dead."

"Skill."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "You're not a thief-how do you have skill?"

"How do you know I'm not a thief?" Wave glanced up at Knuckles for a brief instant to get a look at his face before returning her gaze to the ammunition.

"I'd know who the other thieves in the town are," Knuckles said, folding his arms, "We have a network like that."

"Hunting," Wave said, piling up the ammunition and heading over to the table with the guns on it. She picked up two of them quietly and placing each gun by its respective pile of ammunition.

"Deers and stuff?"

Wave shrugged.

"Sure, stuff like that."

The swallow turned to pass the echidna, but he grabbed her by the arm. She turned and gave him a cold look.

"What's eating you?" Knuckles snarled. Wave said nothing as she continued staring. The red echidna released his grip and the swallow continued on silently.

"I might have an idea," Rouge said, absentmindedly pawing the guns.

"About what?" Knuckles asked, his fists uncurling unconsciously. Rouge nodded her head to Wave, who was back on her perch staring out the window.

"When I found them originally, there was four of them-the three there are now, and a green hawk. Where'd the hawk go?"

"So?" Knuckles folded his arms, realized after a few seconds that was strangely uncomfortable, and let his hands dangle awkwardly.

"I imagine she's the one who had to deal with him," Rouge said.

"That doesn't give her the right to be a bitch," Knuckles grumbled.

"It's probably her coping."

"Bullshit."

Rouge shrugged.

"Call it bullshit all you want," she said, "But from what she said to Blaze, it's probably the truth. And if that's the case, she might be the one to lead us of of this shit hole."

"I'm not being led anywhere by a fucking kid," Knuckles snorted.

Rouge gave a little laugh.

"What's so damn funny?"

"Nothing," Rouge said wryly.

Knuckles gave her a glare but said nothing.

"Oh, and hey, I've been thinking about the question you asked me earlier," Rouge mentioned.

"What question?"

"Why I came back."

"You have a less shitty answer?" Knuckles again attempted to fold his arms, but they just ended up at his sides again.

Rouge shrugged. "Not sure. I've got it narrowed down, but nothing quite final yet."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

The bat grinned. "Nope."

"'Cause you fucking hate me." Knuckles sighed, "Whatever. Once we're outta here, you can get as far from me as you want. I'd say go now, but I don't think Dust-on-Wind'll like that."

"Scared for your sister?" Rouge asked quietly.

"What would you care?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't normally," the bat confessed, "But for some reason I care. I'm still figuring that one out."

Knuckles blinked, surprised that he wasn't so surprised.

"Anyway," the red echidna said after a small silence, "I don't give a shit what you do after we're free of this place and my sister's back with me. Just stay with me until then, got it?"

Rouge nodded.

"Yeah, I'll stick around. I've got to see this person who's unlucky enough to call you their brother."

Knuckles glared at the jest, but Rouge just smiled as she sauntered off to the restrooms.

The red echidna turned his attention back to the provisions that were on the tables, slightly worried about how little there was, and even more worried that most of it had come with the trio they had found. Espio appeared beside him.

"We're in trouble," the chameleon commented as he picked through the food.

"What was your first clue?" Knuckles snapped.

Espio didn't reply.

"This is your show, in all honesty," Espio said as he moved on to the water and medicine.

"How? That little swallow seems to be the leader," Knuckles grumbled.

"What's her motivation then?" the chameleon asked, looking up at his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"You've got motivation to do this," Espio said, poking Knuckles in the chest to emphasize 'you've', "You've got a better reason than just surviving this experience."

"That doesn't she doesn't have a reason to live."

"But that doesn't mean your reason is greater."

"What if her reason to survive is greater?" Knuckles asked, "Then where's your mighty rebuttal?"

"Where's her reason to protect the rest of us, then?"

Knuckles blinked and shut his mouth.

"She doesn't seem to have one, if you ask me," Espio said, with a shrug.

"What if she did?"

"Fuck man," Espio exploded, "I'm trying to damn well help you get it together and you piss on all my attempts! You've got a reason that may as well be your own existence riding on this! No one else has that, not really! So stop acting fucking pussy-whipped. It's a kid-yes, I get that-but she's not fighting you for control!"

Knuckles averted his gaze for a second before saying, "Thanks, man."

"Whatever. We've fucked around here long enough-we really need to work on a plan."

Rouge strode back out of the restroom and sat in one of the booths as Knuckles walked towards the group.

"We need to come up with a plan to get out of here," he started. "Looking over our stuff, we'll need a lot more ammo."

"The police department's got plenty," Rouge said, "And I've got a haul at my house as well."

"I've hit only one of my family's normal gun stores," Wave said, "There's another not too far from the train station, and they've got a good selection-enough ammo for all the guns we've got."

"Where's your house, Rouge?"

"Closer to the NiGHTS hotel, I'm afraid."

"So we're going in the opposite direction, then?"

Rouge nodded.

"Shadow, you know any place?"

"Not particularly, but I know there's a mini-mart between both places-it might be worth checking out."

"So three places, and one's a long shot," Knuckles said.

"Why not hit the train station one first," Silver suggested.

"Why?"

"It's closest, isn't it? And there's not too much back-tracking. We hit that first, got north-east to hit the mini-mart, then swing around and hit Rouge's house and the police building."

Knuckles blinked, then nodded.

"All right then."

"And that way, we can grab extra food at the mini-mart even if it doesn't have ammo."

"What are we doing once we've got the ammunition then?" Wave asked calmly, her gun laying across her lap facing the windows and street.

"Leave," Knuckles said.

"Where to?"

Knuckles thought back.

"Angel Island," Rouge spoke up.

"Why?" Wave asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"I've got friends out that way," Rouge lied, "If this thing isn't global, we'll be able to crash with them."

"Hold up," Silver said, raising his hands in the 'woah' gesture, "I don't care where we're off to, but I know we've barely had any sleep in the past couple of days, and frankly, I'm running on adrenaline at this point. If we're doing this, we should head out tomorrow morning and get sleep tonight."

"Where do you suggest we stay, then?" Wave asked threateningly.

"Well," Silver said quietly, "We could always hole up in the NiGHTS hotel..."

"No," the swallow said.

"Hear the kid out," Knuckles shot back at her, "He seems to be pretty bright-let's see what he's got."

"Well, the hotel is pretty big, and the rooms are supposed to be high-end, right? That's got to mean they're easy to lock up, and the hotel's bound to have a well-stocked kitchen."

"Wouldn't it be out of electricity?"

"Casinopolis wasn't."

Wave didn't reply.

"I like the thought," Blaze said, "I've heard it's really cool in there-all the rooms are done up like different amazing creatures."

"Wasn't the hotel under construction recently?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, they added new rooms," Shadow replied, "But that's all finished up and everything."

"So," Knuckles said, "We're heading out, getting the ammunition, and swinging around to the NiGHTS hotel, got it?"

The others nodded and rose, anxious to leave.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Silver shouldered his backpack full of food, Blaze beside him hoisting the one with medical supplies onto her back. The guns and ammo were distributed to their original owners, with Blaze taking the gun Silver didn't want. Each person had a bottle of water with them, tucked away into a pocket or backpack.

Wave led the way out, moving quietly and swiftly across the street and into the back alleys. Silver, Blaze, and Shadow were kept sandwiched in between the three adults and Wave as they ran.

It was only around three in the afternoon when they made it into the first gun store, opened by years of Knuckles' and Espio's thieving experience.

As the swallow entered, she gave an inward smile at the familiar scent. There wasn't the stench of rot in this building that had oozed into every other corner of the city-rather, this place smelled of metal, gunpowder, and lightly of oil.

"Shadow, Blaze," Wave said, pointing as she moved, "Your ammo's going to be behind the counter. Knuckles and Espio, your stuff's over there. Blaze, I think what you need is in the corner over here."

The lavender swallow then made her way to a back corner of the shop, one hidden by displays and shelves, where the shotguns and their shells were hidden. She reached up to a higher shelf and pulled down several cartons of the ammunition she needed and unthinking, she sat down with the ammunition and set her shotgun across her lap.

As Wave looked around the darkened store, her mind's eye projected what it had once been-bright, if a little empty, and happy. She imagined the old store owner, a young, scruffy guy named Manic, helping her out with the higher shelves when she was smaller. She thought of when she had first gotten the shotgun that sat across her lap, and she had asked to name it. Even now, Manic's wife Sonia's beautiful engraving was on the gun, the name Emelia encrusted in blood and sweat.

Wave had been their flower girl, had been their 'adopted daughter', had been their family.

She would never see them again.

"You okay?" Blaze stood behind Wave, and the swallow turned her eyes up to see the cat.

"I'm... fine."

"Bullshit," Blaze said, dropping lightly to her knees beside Wave. "I had a little sister for years and occasionally hung out with cheerleaders-if anything, I've got a sixth sense about when a girl feels like shit. What's up?"

Wave looked back to her gun and ran her thumb absentmindedly over her gun's name, getting flakes of blood on her hand.

"This place is a home for me," the swallow said finally.

Blaze winced. "Thinking of family, then?"

Wave nodded. "The store owner and his wife."

"You have to take them out?" Wave looked up, her eyes wide.

"No," she said, "Someone else."

"Family member?"

"No."

"Someone close to you, though. You wouldn't be so bad off if it weren't someone you cared about."

"I'm doing fine!" Wave snapped.

"If you were, you wouldn't blow up like that," Blaze said, rising. "Let's go-you need the exercise, by the sound of it." The cat held out her hand and Wave took it, rising to her feet.

"Thanks," she said, retrieving her ammo and gun.

"Hey," Blaze said with a shrug, "You need someone to talk to, I'm here. Sisters for life and all that, huh?"

Wave smiled. "Sure, I'll go with that."

The two girls went to the front of shop where the others were waiting and they headed out together, Shadow in front as they headed out this time.

The black hedgehog kept to back streets and alleyways, with Silver occasionally helping with navigation. The sun was hidden amongst the buildings and the alleys were refreshing and cool, something Shadow was happy for.

"A corner shop?" Rouge asked, taking a better look at the store Shadow was pointing out.

"Yeah," the hedgehog replied, "It was a major hang out spot for my friends and I when I was back in high school."

"You sure it's got ammo?"

"I said it was a long shot," Shadow shot back, "And it's got plenty of food we'd be able to take with us."

"I see something moving in there," Wave commented, removing her shotgun from her shoulder and starting across the street. Blaze hurried after her, the handgun she had inherited at the ready. The adults followed after the two girls and were closely followed by the brothers.

"Shit," Shadow breathed as he recognized the zombie that was there. It was a friend of his from high school, a girl named Fiona. Yeah, she had been the class whore, and had on more than one occasion tried to rob him of his virginity, but only succeeded in disgusting him initially. After a while he had become friends with her, and while she had never gotten in his pants, they might as well had been going out they way they stuck together.

"Someone you know?" Wave asked, taking a glance at the frozen hedgehog.

"An old friend," Shadow responded, taking a deep breath. "I guess this one's mine then, huh?" He gave a weak look that pleaded with the others.

"If you're too much of a pussy," Wave said coldly, "I'll do it for you."

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "No, I don't want you to," he said firmly, taking three bold steps inside the store and holding up his hand gun. The black hedgehog licked sweat from his lips and fired, blasting two shots into the zombie's head. It fell and twitched, and Shadow went to where it lay and put three more bullets into its brain.

"Welcome to the party," Blaze said bitterly to Shadow as she stepped into the store and browsing through the aisles.

"Should we go get more water?" Silver sheepishly asked Espio, who nodded.

"Everyone, go get another bottle of water," the chameleon commanded, heading towards the freezers, "Whatever's easiest to carry."

They all retrieved two bottles each, putting the water wherever they could without hindering their arms. They then split up, each picking around the store for whatever food they thought they could use and distributing it in Silver's pack.

Shadow was looking through batteries and at flashlights, quickly replacing those he had for more powerful ones.

"Think this vodka would do it?" Knuckles asked Espio, standing in front of the alcohol cases.

"Probably," the chameleon answered, opening the case and deftly opening one of the bottles. He took a whiff and nodded. "Definitely."

"I'll go grab a couple of lighters then," Knuckles said, heading towards the register and returning with three lighters.

"Wanna try it now?"

"Just a small amount," Espio replied, lowering the bottle cap and pouring a small amount of the vodka inside it. Knuckles lowered the flame and the liquid lit almost instantly, causing the two thieves to grin at each other.

"I'm glad the kid suggested this place," Knuckles commented, grabbing out several bottles of the vodka.

"Yeah," Espio agreed, "And this place even has T-shirts. For a shitty little corner store, the selection's pretty good."

The duo attacked a shirt and ripped it to shreds, taking several of the strips of cloth and exiting the store.

"What is all that stuff?" Silver asked, looking doubtfully at the alcohol and cloth.

"The making of Molotov Cocktails," Knuckles explained, "What else?"

"You want booze at a time like this?"

The two thieves looked at each other.

"How the hell are you a teenager?" Espio asked.

Rouge sighed. "It's a crude, home made bomb, Silver."

"Oh!"

"We should get going," Wave advised, and they set out again.

Rouge took the lead, heading for her apartment along the main roads. It took them an hour to walk the distance, and the sun began sinking into the western sky when they finally poked their heads into the bat's tiny apartment.

"Wow, what a shitty little thing," Knuckles commented, picking around the apartment.

"Tax dollars at work," Rouge said, heading straight through the main room to her bed room. "Can't even let their officers afford a decent apartment or condo." The bat headed to her room and shut the door, quickly changing out of her blood-and-shit stiffened uniform. She grabbed what ammunition she could, and the three grenades she had collected over the years.

This place wasn't so special to her, Rouge realized as she looked around her sparse room. There were no pictures, was no pet, wasn't anything. The bat gave a bitter laugh as she realized there was no reason to remain-not in this apartment, this town, this life...

No, that wasn't right. Rouge realized there was a reason, and it was in her living room-he was in her living room. There was no other explanation. She could finally answer Knuckles' question, and she wasn't sure whether or not it was something she could be happy about.

It was the truth, though, and the bat knew it.

Rouge stepped out of her room, wearing a tank top thrown on over a sports bra and baggy pants. Hidden under her pants was a small anklet she had inherited from her grandmother that she barely remembered and didn't really care about.

The color shifted beautifully, though. Red in the sunlight and green in any other-a ruby by day, and an emerald by night. Rouge thought that kind of a gemstone fitted her perfectly, and she kept it with her when she needed a boost of self-worth.

"Impressive," Espio said.

"Should I say thanks then?" Rouge asked smugly.

"I meant the grenades," the chameleon replied, "I didn't think cops played that dirty."

The bat shrugged. "A hobby, I guess."

"Fun hobby," Knuckles said.

"Hey, I'm raiding your kitchen," Silver called, rustling noisily through cabinets.

Blaze came out of the bathroom and plopped on the floor next to Shadow.

"How long we staying here?" the cat asked.

"Long enough for Silver to get everything he wants from the kitchen," Rouge replied, looking around at her apartment for what was most likely the last time.

"Saying good bye?" Wave asked from her perch atop the armchair. The bat shook her head.

"I could care less," Rouge said, "I'm more saying good riddance."

"Sounds like fun," Espio remarked with a grin.

"What, you thinking the same thing?"

"Of course," the chameleon replied with a shrug, "What's this city been but a pain in the ass for me? I'm happy-it now looks like the shit hole it's always been."

"Hey, I've got all I can carry now," Silver poked his head out of the kitchen before heading into the main room.

"You're ready to go then?" Shadow asked, rising.

"Yeah."

"Let's get out of this place then," Rouge said, heading for the door, "We've still got one more worthless building to hit."

The bat held the door for the rest of them, and followed behind Knuckles as he left.

They headed back to Kapella Street, keeping close to the store fronts as they moved. Each of them knew where the police station was, approximately, and all of them grew more and more tense the closer they got to it.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Knuckles asked grimly as he gave Espio a glance.

"Like the time you broke me out while I was in that shitty little holding cell?" the chameleon asked. Knuckles grinned.

"Ah, the good ol' days."

"Let's go," Rouge said, heading brisquely into the building. The rest followed her quietly, each of the kids awed by the building that was nothing like their fantasies. The three adults, on the other hand, were unimpressed and anxious enough to leave.

"Where's the ammunition?" Wave asked, her gun at the ready.

"Somewhere that requires a key," Rouge replied, ducking into an office marked with a plaque. She replied shortly after with a card key in her hand and strode down the hall.

"This the armory?" Espio asked with mild interest.

"Nope," Rouge said, "It's weapons we've confiscated over the years." She swiped the key card and punched in a five-number code.

"It's still working?" Shadow asked, his eyebrows raised in interest.

"There's a generator," Rouge explained, "Since most of what we do here is run on computers and electricity. We run out of juice and we're doomed." The bat opened the heavy door and stepped inside, motioning for Knuckles and Espio to enter.

"Who the fuck had the rocket launcher?"

"Guns merchant, I think," Rouge replied, "But I don't know how to use it-no experience."

The thieves glanced at each other, but let it die.

"Here," Rouge said, picking out a couple of cartridges, "It's not much, and there isn't shit in the armory down below, either."

"So this place is a worthless piece of shit then?" Espio asked, his arms across his chest.

Rouge shrugged. "It wasn't that before?" she asked. Knuckles gave her a sly grin.

"Hey, cops aren't allowed to have a sense of humor-what the fuck are you?"

"Someone who didn't get paid enough to care," Rouge said, exiting the cramped room.

When the three had finally exited, Wave gave them a look.

"There wasn't much," she commented.

"Nope."

"Hope you kids had fun in there then," Shadow said with a little laugh as he headed back down the hall. The others went after him.

"We're not hitting the ammunition stores you have here then?" Blaze asked Rouge. The bat shook her head.

"There's nothing but ammo for my gun, and I've got all I can carry."

"We're off to the hotel then?" Silver asked.

Rouge gave the building a mental rundown. There wasn't enough guns or ammunition to even justify what time they'd already wasted there. There was no food, no clothing, and no way in hell she'd spend the night there.

The bat was a little ashamed that she had suggested hitting the police station-she knew it wouldn't have shit to offer them. But there was something...superior...about surviving, even this long. She had to lord it over those bastards that had always treated her like shit-the fuckers damn well deserved what they got.

It was a disgusting, dark and angry thought-but the bat couldn't help it.

"Yeah, we're off," Rouge said, leading the way to the exit.

The stepped out into the dying sunlight and headed towards the NiGHTS hotel.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Woah, this place is huge," Silver commented as they headed through the front doors.

"No kidding," Blaze said, lowering the gun she held. The lobby was painted beautifully, with flowers and windmills. The tiles on the floor were a brilliant green, and there was a large moziac on the floor of five colored orbs.

"How much money did they waste on this place?" Knuckles asked, scowling at the odd, cone-headed statues that spotted the room.

"At least a billion," Rouge commented, heading for the front desk. "There's probably keys here." She vaulted over the desk and moved quickly, searching for card keys. She found a couple, each with a small picture on it. "What the hell does this mean?" the bat asked, setting the keys on the desk.

"Oh, each of the floors is done up a special way," Blaze said, "At least, that's what I heard."

"So these are floor indications, then?" Rouge asked. The cat nodded.

"I'm not sure which are on which floor, though."

"I think I can figure it out," Silver said, looking over a map in the dying light.

"Wow, what is this, the mall?" Blaze asked with a little laugh.

"Something you're familiar with?" Shadow asked slyly. Blaze shook her head.

"Didn't have the time. I was always at parks with my siblings and stuff."

"Hey," Silver said, "Someone give me the keys that Rouge got." He held his hand out while he still looked over the map and closed his hand around the cards as Blaze handed them to him. The younger hedgehog flicked through the cards absentmindedly, tossing some of them immediately onto the counter. When he was finished, he looked up at the others.

"What kind of room are we going to want?" he asked, "I think we've got a couple of small rooms here, and then a suite."

"Let's get a suite," Blaze said excitedly.

"I agree," Rouge said.

"Women," Knuckles muttered. Rouge punched him in the shoulder.

"If we only need one room, we only need one guard," the bat explained, "Besides, some suites have kitchens and the like."

"Fine," the echidna said, and Silver checked the number for the suite.

"Hey, can you get me the key for 42?" the hedgehog asked, "That way we've got both cards if we need them." Rouge nodded, let herself over the counter again, and dug out the card asked for. She held it out for Silver, but the hedgehog rejected it.

"You keep it, so both the adults and kids have one."

"So where is the room?" Knuckles asked, taking a look at the map.

"It's down that hall, by the look of it," Silver said, pointing to a hall on the opposite end of the lobby.

"Let's give it a shot then," Shadow said, heading in the direction his brother pointed with a flashlight out and on.

The hallway was a light purple, with all of the doors a dark plum color. The tiles matched that, with every fifth tile in the center colored in either a blue, yellow, white, green, or red pattern. The number plates on the doors were ornate-looking, in the sign of the little jester's hat that matched the key card.

"This is pretty ornate," Blaze commented.

"This is a giant waste of time and funds," Espio said bitterly.

"Really," Rouge said.

"I think this is the room," Shadow said, stopping and holding up the flashlight.

"Room 42?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's the room."

Silver stepped forward, and seeing no light issuing from the door, he tried it without the card first. The handle didn't budge, and Silver frowned in embarrassment. He then swiped the key card through it, and the handle beeped and flashed green in response. The younger hedgehog smiled proudly as he opened the door for the others.

"How's it still running?" Espio asked.

"Probably on a battery," Silver replied with a shrug. Shadow entered first, leading the way with his flashlight and following with his gun. After a few minutes he waved the others inside and they obeyed, Silver holding the door for the others as they went.

"Can we open the curtains or something?" Blaze asked.

"No," Espio said, "We're on the ground floor, and we'd only be inviting trouble."

"Nice beds," Shadow commented, flopping back onto one of the large beds. The light bounced with him, revealing a purple room.

"Hey Shadow, can I borrow one of the flashlights?" Silver asked, coming around the bed to where his brother lay. The elder hedgehog handed the light to his younger brother, and Silver disappeared with the light.

"Where are you going?" Blaze called in curiosity, heading after the young hedgehog.

"I'm taking a piss then," Espio said, pulling out a lighter and heading through the door.

"Shadow, can you flash the light here?" Wave asked, and the hedgehog obeyed, training the light on the back of the main door. There was a purple jester painted, with a word in an Arabian-esque font crafted across its legs.

"NiGHTS?" Rouge asked, looking at the word, "Why's only the 'i' lowercase?"

No one answered.

"Lot of trouble for a door," Wave commented, setting her shotgun down on the unoccupied bed and sitting next to it.

Knuckles gave a bitter chuckle as he found an ornate chair and plopped down in it.

"What is it?" Rouge asked, sitting on the floor next to the echidna's chair.

"What the fuck is it with rich people?" he asked, "They have all this money and power, and they're too damn selfish to aid others with it-instead they cater to other rich people! It's disgusting."

"They don't know what to do with themselves," Wave replied quietly.

"Hey, look what we found," Silver said, leaning out of the doorway. In his hand was a bottle.

"What's in there?" Shadow asked, lighting up the bottle as best he could.

"Well, this is alcohol," the younger hedgehog said with a shrug, "But there's different juices and water and stuff in the fridge here! I wouldn't trust the milk, granted, but everything else should be cool."

"Pisser works," Espio said gruffly, coming towards the others and wiping his hands on his sides, "As do the faucets."

"Think we can take showers, then?" Blaze asked hopefully.

"If you don't mind bathing in the dark," the chameleon replied. The cat shook her head.

"I feel disgusting," she replied, "Frankly, I'll take it."

"Anyone else feel a bath's necessary?" Knuckles asked.

"One would be nice," Silver said sheepishly, "But not necessary."

"Ditto," Wave and Shadow replied.

"Rouge?"

The bat shrugged. "I've been through shit and blood-at this point, I'd probably be doing you guys a favor taking a bath. But I don't need one."

"Cool, then," Blaze said, "Shadow, can I borrow the flashlight?"

"Sure, heads up," Shadow replied, tossing the light to Blaze, who had to stumble forward to catch it. "Sorry," the hedgehog apologized, wincing in the dark.

"It's okay," Blaze replied, turning to Espio. "Bathroom's that way, right?"

"Yes."

The cat disappeared with the light.

"Are we guarding the door while we sleep?" Rouge asked.

"We should," Wave said, "In case."

"There weren't any in here," Shadow said, "Wonder where they all went?"

"I don't want to find out," Knuckles said, rising from the chair.

"Where are you going?" Rouge asked.

"To guard the door. Shadow, you got another flashlight?"

"Yeah, I should," the hedgehog replied, digging through his backpack.

"I'll wake you up in a few hours, Espio," Knuckles said, opening the door.

"Wait," Rouge said, standing up.

"What?"

"Take the key, you idiot, or you won't be waking anyone up." The bat held out the card, and Knuckles took it, muttering something quietly. It vaguely sounded like a thanks, but Rouge didn't press the matter. The door clicked shut.

"Should we be getting to sleep soon, then?" Rouge asked.

"I'll skip the shower," Wave said.

"Same," Shadow agreed.

"Fine. You kids take the beds," Espio said, "Boys in the one, girls in the other."

"What, you think we're going to try something?" Shadow asked playfully.

"I was a teenager once too, cheeky bastard," the chameleon replied, "Don't think I'm unaware of what you'd like to do in a bed."

"Espio, do you want the chair there?" Rouge asked, pointing at the chair that Knuckles had been sitting in. The chameleon shook his head in the dark.

"No, I can't really sleep sitting up."

The purple chameleon settled at the foot of the boys' bed and curled up around his gun, out in a matter of minutes. Blaze drifted into the room and handed the light off to Silver, who smiled gratefully and went to take his shower.

"They're forgetting the shower then?" the cat asked.

"Yeah, they decided sleep was more important," Rouge replied, "Which is probably true."

"I'm sleeping with Wave then?"

"Yep, unless you want the floor."

"Wave it is."

The cat slipped into bed, and before long Rouge was in a room full of those asleep.

The bat couldn't get the question out of her mind-why had she come back? She had a good idea, but narrowing it down from one of two choices was growing more and more difficult. Rouge thought over the qualities both of the men had, their ups and downs, and was still unsure.

Until it struck her.

The door clicked quietly open, and a beam of light played over the floor and across Rouge's face. She winced.

"Are you still awake?" Knuckles hissed in the darkness.

"I can't sleep yet," she replied.

"Why not? You'll have to get up like the rest of us in the morning."

"I needed to tell you something."

"What?" the echidna snapped.

"I figured out the answer to your question."

"And this couldn't wait until the morning?"

"Not really."

Knuckles heaved a sigh. "Why, then?"

"You."

Silence matched the darkness.

"What?"

"I came back for your sake."

Knuckles sat down across from Rouge and held the light in her face, inquisitor-style. Her face was serious.

"You're fucking nuts," he said in his shock.

"So you don't feel that way," Rouge stated bluntly.

"What?"

"You don't care about me-I get it."

Knuckles clicked off the light, leaned forward, and kissed Rouge hard on the lips, making sure to get his hands around the back of her head so she couldn't escape.

"Yes I do," the echidna replied, slipping his hands to rest on her shoulders. The bat blushed in the darkness.

"Thank you," she said quietly, "I can die happy now." Knuckles gave Rouge a hard squeeze on the shoulder.

"You'd better not die on me," he growled, giving her another kiss.

"Then at least let me keep you safe," she said once they had broken off.

"You're taking next shift?"

"Yeah."

"Fine," Knuckles gave her a hard hug. When he had finally released her, he gave her the flashlight and settled down at the foot of the bed where she had been.

Rouge rose and stepped lightly to the door.

"Hold up," Knuckles said, getting to his feet and patting himself down. He pulled out the key he had been given and returned it to Rouge. "There, so some damnable door won't keep you." The echidna settled back down, and Rouge smiled in the dark.

"Thanks," she said, slipping out the door.

Rouge let the door shut with a small _click_, and put her back against it, sliding down the door despite her wings. She sat, looking into the darkness with happy surprise. The bat sat in the dark until she could feel herself starting to give in to sleep and then she rose, opening the door and slinking back into the room. She nudged Espio awake, who looked at her in awe.

"You got second shift?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rouge replied, "Here's the key, and the light. Do you need anything else?"

Espio shook his head. "No thanks."

Rouge then settled down next to Knuckles, who woke up just enough to put his arms around her like a child sleeping with a teddy bear.

In the morning, Espio prodded Knuckles and Rouge awake with his gun and grinning at them.

"Didn't I suggest the kids have different beds?"

"Good thing we're not kids then," Knuckles replied groggily, yawning and sitting up.

"Aren't cops supposed to be role models?"

Rouge shrugged. "When the fuck has that ever been the case?" she asked.

"True enough," the chameleon replied. "Should we wake the kids up?"

Rouge rose and took a look out the window hidden behind heavy curtains.

"We should," she replied, "Or else we'll be staying here another night."

"Can you get the ladies then?" Espio asked, gently shaking Silver awake.

"Yeah," Rouge replied, doing the same for Blaze and murmuring, "Time to get up."

The teenagers woke up with a mix of groans and complaints but were up within half an hour, and ready to go fifteen minutes after that.

"Sleep well?" Shadow asked as Blaze stretched and gathered her things.

"Really well, actually," the cat replied, "Best night's rest I've gotten in forever."

"Good," Wave said, "Let's hope we get out of here so we can have more nights like that."

"Yeah, really," Silver said, shouldering his pack of supplies.

"Are you kids all ready?" Rouge said, checking over her gun.

"Yes," Shadow said, "And you guys?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," the bat replied.

"So we're ready to go?" Knuckles asked, returning from the bathroom and slinging his pack over his shoulder.

"Yep."

"Let's go then."

The small party of survivors headed out the door, Shadow and Wave at the head, with Blaze carrying the still-sleeping Cheese in her backpack as she walked next to Silver. Behind them, Rouge and Knuckles walked shoulder to shoulder, and Espio brought up the rear.

As they passed the front desk again, Silver went to drop the key card on the desk, but Blaze stopped him.

"You should keep it," she said, "That way, you don't forget this place." She vaulted herself over the door and smiled, "Hey, there's spares-want me to get you guys all one?"

Each in the party agreed except for Espio, who said it was a waste.

"We're done now?" the chameleon asked moodily.

"Yessir," Blaze said with a bright smile.

"Good, we've wasted too much daylight already."

The party stepped out of the hotel of dreams and back into harsh, angular reality.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The small party made their way down Kapella street, keeping in a tight formation.

"Where are we heading now?" Wave asked quietly.

"Keep heading up this street," Knuckles said, "Kapella hits Fayze about five miles up or so, and we'll turn onto that. Fayze has got a good opening to the sewers and the like-we'll use those to travel to the Mystic Ruins, and from there, Angel Island."

"You'd think this place would have a ferry or something at this point," Silver said.

"They wouldn't," Rouge said, "Because they're cheap bastards."

"Wouldn't they make money off of it though?"

"Not enough to make it worth it."

They hurried on their way, passing the jewelry store and the burger joint again before noon. There was no incident-no indication that there were undead in the town, which set all of them on edge.

The glass still littered the ground, making a silent run impossible, but at that point it didn't matter.

"Hey," Silver said, staring at the familiar structure of the train station, "Can't we take the tracks? Wouldn't that be safer than the sewers?"

"How so?" Wave asked.

"The sewers were crawling with them last time I checked," Shadow said.

"What if some of the trains are still running?" the swallow asked.

"There's no way," Knuckles said, "Electricity's out."

"Still, it's high up in the air," Wave said, "If something comes, we'd have nowhere to hide."

"We could bottle neck any enemies," Rouge said.

"And what if there came a train?"

"There wouldn't!" Knuckles snapped.

"What if a train were stopped out on the tracks?" Espio asked quietly, "It would be difficult to get around it, and there may be undead aboard."

"Like there aren't zombies in the sewers?" Shadow asked.

No one said anything.

"It's going to suck either way, isn't it?" Silver asked. They all knew the silent answer.

"Let's stick to the sewers," Knuckles said, "We've already done that twice, with little incident."

Blaze kept silent as the party headed past the train station.

Fayze street was far smaller than Kapella, and they were covered in the shadows of skyscrapers as they went.

"This area seems too familiar," Rouge commented, her gun held steady in nervous hands.

"Wasn't this where we picked you up?" Espio asked.

"Probably."

"It should be," Knuckles said, "That's where I was planning on heading. Where I want to enter the sewers it still a mile and a half away, though."

"When do you think we'll get there?" Silver asked, panting a little.

"When we get there," Knuckles replied, "And no earlier. It all depends on how much you hustle, kid-you're the slowest one here."

Silver scowled. "Sorry," he grumbled.

"Don't apologize," Espio said, "Just hurry up."

They quickened their pace, Silver keeping up as best he could. The city flashed by in broken windows, the shadows of buildings, brick, and the crunch of glass underfoot. The sun started to glance through the cracks above the buildings, flooding the alleyways they hurried through with light. The glass became a shining, shattered sea around them, and they almost drowned in so much glaring light.

"We're almost there," Knukcles said excitedly, picking up his pace.

Espio screamed, and there was the scraping thud of flesh hitting concrete.

"Shit," Knuckles hissed, turning around to see what had happened. Clinging to the chameleon was a pink hedgehog-one Rouge recognized instantly.

"You die, bitch!" the bat spat, her gun up and ready in a flash of reflected light. The gunshot exploded outward like a shockwave and the zombie jerked with half of Espio's shoulder clenched in its teeth.

"Damn," he snarled, "So fucking close."

Silver started to advance, but Shadow grabbed him quickly.

"Shadow?"

"Don't."

The younger hedgehog looked with worry at Espio, who held up his hand to stop his friend from advancing.

"Fuck my life," Espio grunted, prying the dead hedgehog's mouth open and inspecting his tore shoulder. Glass shimmered in his front half, and his blood shimmered. He was shredded and bruised as he looked up at the party.

"I'm sorry," Rouge said quietly, her eyes averted.

"'S'not your fault," Espio said, taking up his gun and taking a somewhat curious glance down its barrel. "It's my fault for not paying more attention."

"Espio..." Knuckles said weakly.

The chameleon smiled up at the echidna.

"We part ways here," Espio said.

Knuckles looked at Espio's rent body with a grimace.

"Unfortunately."

Espio gave a laugh. "Please, you always knew we were doomed from the start."

"I always thought she'd be the one to do it," Knuckles said, pointing a thumb at Rouge.

A snort was Espio's reply. "Like I'd give the dumb ass cop the pleasure." He leveled the gun at his temple.

"Espio?" Wave said suddenly.

"What?"

"When you get on the other side, can you look for a hawk named Jet?"

The thief smiled. "I think I can do that."

"See you later, buddy," Knuckles said quietly.

"I'll be waiting," Espio replied with a grin that remained even after he had left.

All of them had watched without flinching, and Knuckles picked up the gun and ammunition after a few minutes.

"Damn shame, bud," the echidna said bitterly, looking down at the body by his feet, "I'll tell Tikal you went like a man."

They hurried on their way, with Rouge and Knuckles looking back every once in a while to keep their fates different from Espio's. The crunch of glass below morphed into the sound of the zombie biting into the chameleon's shoulder, and the glare of the sun became the blood and glass that glowed from his torso.

"Here," Knuckles said, lifting the manhole cover with trembling hands and held it for the kids. Wave landed with a splash, Shadow and Blaze right behind her. Silver hung on at the top and looked up at Knuckles.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'll live," the echidna replied.

"Please do." Silver lowered himself quietly.

Rouge looked Knuckles in the eye.

"You'd better," she threatened, kissing him on the lips before jumping into the sewers and hovering a little before lowering herself in front of the kids.

Knuckles set the cover quietly on the concrete and lowered himself into the dark, sliding the cover back over the hole and letting it slam down like a gunshot.

With a splash, Knuckles landed beside Wave and headed to the front of the group.

They trudged along in the dark, each trapped in their own world.

Then Silver asked, "Hey, isn't there always a horde?"

"What?" Disbelief.

"Y'know, a horde. There's always one in the zombie games. Instead of pissing off one or two at a time, you come across a huge group of them and it's nothing but a blast fest."

"I've already come across something like that," Wave said, "And it wasn't so exciting as you seem to think it is."

"Sorry," Silver said quietly.

"How much longer Knuckles?" Rouge asked.

"A little bit. I'm trying to get us as close to the Mystic Ruins sea port as possible."

The continued to the sound of splashing, with a single flashlight guiding the way. There was a small glimmer, and Knuckles stopped them.

"I'll see if we're where I think we are."

He was up and back in a flash, the flashlight trained on him the entire time.

"Here's our stop," he said, "Rouge, I want you to go first, and I'll be last. That work for you?"

"Yeah," Rouge agreed, heading up the ladder.

Five minutes later all of them were out, reeking of feces with dilated eyes and soaked, grimy, with hair plastered to them in strands.

"Fuck, that shower wasn't worth it, was it?" Blaze asked, looking at herself.

"Nope," Silver said with a little laugh, "But it was nice while it lasted."

"We need to head this way," Knuckles said after observing the area.

"We're in the forest again?"

"Unfortunately. There's nothing closer."

Somewhere nearby a twig cracked, and Silver jumped.

"I think something's around," he whispered. Wave glared at him and gave him the 'shh' symbol. They crept along, keeping on the paths already beaten down by years of tourists.

There was more noise, increasing as they went. Subconsciously, they rose their pace, running quickly and noisily through the woods from the surrounding noise. The leaves rustled a little as they went, warning of wind and danger, and twigs sounded like snapping bones. They scared themselves with their own movement, and each person spurred the others on with their fear.

"What am I looking for?" Rouge asked as they ran.

"A cliff face with a ladder," Knuckles replied, panting heavily.

"Got it," the bat took to the air and rose above the trees with difficulty. Her head swiveled back and forth until she caught sight of a rusty ladder. "This way," she called, gliding off.

Those on the ground ran after Rouge, each managing by sheer force of desperation to not trip.

Blaze hit the ladder first, climbing up it with the speed of a monkey. Shadow was right behind her.

There was a glimmer of leaves, and a zombie came out of the trees. Wave turned and its head exploded simultaneously with a gunshot, blood, brains, and bone the shrapnel of the blast. Silver froze, and was forcibly slammed into the ladder by Knuckles.

"Go, you fucking dip shit!" the echidna screamed, unloading into the oncoming zombies.

"Want help?" Blaze called down from halfway up the ladder.

"No! Just keep climbing!"

Silver was a fair way up when Knuckles started his climb.

"Here's your hoard, kid," Wave muttered to herself as she reloaded.

"Go, Wave," Rouge commanded, glancing at hose on the ladder as she pulled out her gun, "I'll cover you."

"Thanks, but I'd rather stay here." Two more gunblasts sounded, and two more undead fell.

"Bitch," Silver screamed down at her, stopped and glaring with his golden eyes, "You get your fucking ass up here right now! Ten bucks your says your boyfriend wanted you to live! Why the fuck are you going to insult him like that? Why are you going to insult us by saying we're not worth living with? You wanna die? Fine! But get the fuck out of my sight if you've gotta!"

Shadow and Blaze both blinked and looked down at Silver, whose trembling was evident.

"I've seen enough people die," he roared, "Don't make me see another!"

Wave looked up with a grimace, and a blast from Rouge felled an undead going after her.

"But I miss him."

"Too fucking bad!" Silver screamed, "I lost a twin in here! I'm a fucking nerd and I've got more will to live than you! You suck, you fucking bitch! Don't waste your potential just because you lost someone you love!"

"Can we go?" Knuckles snarled, glaring up at Silver's feet, "If the self-centered little whore doesn't value her life, fuck her. I want to live."

The young hedgehog blinked and crinkled his brow. "I'm sorry," he said, "I just don't want to loose anyone else."

Wave said nothing as she started her ascent of the ladder, Emelia cradled in her left arm as she climbed. Rouge sent round after round into the horde, her face set in hard lines.

Blaze slung her leg over the rim and instantly looked over the edge and swore.

"They can climb!" she yelled, scared yet strangely glad that none had found her, Cheese, and Tails when they had slept in that tree.

"Chao chao cha cha chao cha?" _-What do we do now?-_ Cheese asked, poking his head out of the back pack.

"I don't know," Blaze said, looking around.

"Hey, stupid plush toy," Knuckles roared up.

"Chao?" -_Me?-_ Cheese asked.

"Yes, you!" Knuckles roared, guessing what the Chao had asked, "Get your ass down here and take my backpack up to her!"

Cheese was down quickly as Shadow let himself onto the shelf where Blaze was. The little creatures wings moved like a hummingbird's as he rose, and Cheese sat panting when he regained the shelf.

"What am I using out of this?" Blaze yelled down.

"The alcohol and the sheets," Knuckles replied, "Make a Molotov cocktail with it!"

"Huh?"

"Like this," Shadow said, digging out the Vodka and shirt strips. He had the Vodka opened in a heartbeat and soaked one of the cloth strips in the liquid by dunking it. "There a lighter in here?" the hedgehog asked.

"Yeah, in the small pouch out front," Knuckles roared back, nearing the top. Shadow dug out the lighter and looked to Rouge.

"Are you and Wave out of the way?" he called.

"Yes," yelled the bat.

"Toss it!" Wave screamed.

Flames took to the cloth and alcohol quickly, and Shadow threw the makeshift bomb over the edge. The explosion itself was fairly small, but a cry came from Wave despite herself.

"What happened?" Shadow called.

"I think Wave got pegged," Silver said, finally making his way over the shelf, Knuckles right behind him.

"Shit," Shadow grunted, making another one.

"It's what she gets for taking so damn long," Silver said.

"Rouge, are there still more?" Knuckles called.

"Not enough to make two more of those bombs necessary," Rouge replied, flying up to the shelf.

"Fire in the hole, then," Shadow said, dropping a second bomb. Wave climbed faster below as the sound of metal being torn apart filled the air. She was over the edge and heading hastily for the cart that was there.

"I think that ladder's a support," she said as the ground started to crack. She started to limp away when Silver came up from behind her and got her in the right armpit.

"Let's move it," Rouge screamed, and they ran for the tunnel. The stone started to crumble away and fall, Blaze with it.

"Blaze!" Shadow roared, turning and ready to jump after her. Knuckles grabbed the hedgehog by the arm and pulled him back as Rouge dove after Blaze. The bat practically tackled the cat in mid-air and curved, rising to return them both to the tunnel above.

"Is she all right?" Knuckles asked as the bat finally managed to get them to safe, firm land.

"She's unconscious, but she's still alive," Rouge replied, panting heavily.

"Are you okay, Wave?" Silver asked the swallow who was seated.

"Part of the glass from that first bottle got me in the the foot," Wave replied, and the shard of glass in question was visible through the top of Wave's shoe and covered in flesh.

"Holy shit!" Silver exclaimed, going to take the shoe off.

"Don't!" Knuckles commanded, "You'll only fuck it up worse."

"Jet, you liar," Wave muttered, "You let me get hurt."

"Fuck that now," Silver said, helping Wave up, "We need to get to the port so Rouge's friends can help us."

"Through this tunnel and to the port," Knuckles said, "Wave, can you walk?"

"I can," she replied through pain-clenched teeth.

"You'd better, then." Knuckles ran ahead, Rouge behind him. Shadow swept along with the unconscious Blaze in his arms like a bride on her wedding night. The swallow limped along with Silver's support, thinking of Jet the entire time.

"Light!" Rouge called, and she ran forward, gun at the ready.

"Shit," Knuckles said, glaring at the figures beyond.

"The port's not too far," the bat said, "You kids make a run for it!"

"Kinda hard," Silver yelled, catching up with the others.

"Rouge," Knuckles said, his gun at the ready, "Can you carry the kids one at a time over this crowd? I'll keep 'em safe until you do."

"Yes, I can do that," Rouge said, giving Knuckles a small kiss on the cheek. "Wave, you first."

"All right," the swallow said, allowing the bat to take her into the air.

"Boys, can you help me?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah," the brothers replied in unison, Silver on Knuckles' left and Shadow on his right.

Cheese settled on Blaze's head and growled at the advancing cluster.

"Got your wish, kid," Knuckles said in-between shots, "Here's your horde.

"Who's next?" Rouge asked, dropping below the guys.

"Blaze," Shadow said, "And her little friend."

"Chao chao," _-Good luck,-_ Cheese said, fluttering after Rouge as she lifted the unconscious girl and soared off.

"Silver, can you cook me up a Molotov?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah," the young hedgehog replied, snatching out the supplied.

"Think we'll make it?" Shadow asked, felling an undead.

"Unlikely," Knuckles replied, "But we'll go out fighting."

Silver handed the home-made bomb to Knuckles, who lit it easily and hurled it high into the horde, watching as the explosion knocked over several of the undead.

"Silver, you're up," Rouge called, coming quickly in for a landing.

"Don't die," Silver said as Rouge picked him up.

Shadow gave a little laugh.

"I don't take orders from you," he called as he put a couple of bullets in a zombie. He and Knuckles traded off shooting and reloading so that the bullets never stopped flying, and Rouge returned for the hedgehog.

"I expect to come back to you," Rouge said, giving Knuckles a hard look.

"I won't go down," the echidna replied, turning his attention to another bomb. He made it in between shots, glad Shadow had left his gun. The monsters advanced inevitably, though, when Knuckles had finally gotten his final bomb made up.

"Go back to hell where you belong, fucking bastards," the echidna growled, lighting the Molotov cocktail and pitching it so that it landed between him and the front line of zombies. Bits of the glass sliced his arms and torso, causing the echidna to wince in pain.

"Told you not to die on me," Rouge said, grabbing Knuckles under the armpits and taking off with him.

"Heavy?" he asked.

"Not heavy enough," she replied with a smile, "They made me emergency evacuator when they were short-handed-it's something I'm used to."

"There's a ship then?"

"Right there," Rouge replied, coming around the cliff face and gliding low over the water.

"Everyone here, then?" Knuckles asked as Rouge set him down.

"I think so," the bat replied, "Unless someone was revived without our knowing?"

"No," Silver said, "We're not that lucky."

"But we're lucky enough to survive this encounter," Rouge said, "That's a plus."

"Not much of a plus," Wave said, staring at the glass in her foot.

"Fuck it," Rouge said bluntly, "Knuckles, you know where Angel Island is?"

"Yes."

"Get us the fuck out of here, then."


	16. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Wave lay on her belly, looking silently through the crosshairs.

She was in a church, resting in the shadow of the bells and eaves. Despite her gimp foot, she had climbed up the good old fashioned way, her slim sniper's rifle attached to her back.

The swallow was glad for the job Dust-on-Wind had fetched her, glad that the mystic had plenty of friends in all the right places.

The target this time was a youth, the sovereign of a nation threatening her own. The file had said the girl was being controlled, but that was uncertain. There was the strange little creature hovering around the little princess a lot of the time, though-some sort of cross between dog and fairy. If she could get that creature, it would mean a bonus.

Not like that was why Wave took the job.

She had earned the nickname 'Fairytail Sniper' among her colleagues, and she knew why. All of the jobs she took willingly were exotic and mythological in nature, and were generally the most difficult. That was what Wave wanted though. What she needed.

Jet had been there, Wave knew it. He had been with her during her hellish surgery to fix up her foot, with her when she was in basic, when she went through her most dangerous missions.

He had always kept her safe.

The hard line of Wave's mouth twitched at the corners as she thought about him.

If Silver had been there first, she probably would have fallen for him. Or if Jet were truly gone. The kid had a lot of heart, and, whether he realized it or not, a lot of balls.

Jet was there first, though. And he was still around.

The swallow checked the atomic watch on her wrist. It was 2:56 pm, and the speaking wouldn't start until 3. Not like it mattered, since Wave had been hunkered down inside the bell tower since the day before and passed her time with thinking.

What if Jet had lived? What if it were Storm, and not Jet? What if Espio hadn't had that last encounter? Or Silver hadn't saved her? How would she have let herself go if he hadn't? What if the shrapnel had hit her hand-or something more serious?

Getting the experience out of her head was impossible. It haunted the backs of her eyes when she slept, and dogged her conscious mind when awake. Not that she'd regret it, though. The swallow had swore to herself on that cramped little boat as it sailed for Angel Island that she wouldn't regret, and she wouldn't forget.

The bells behind her tolled, and down below the princess had stepped up to the podium. Wave put her eye back to her crosshairs for a better view. The creature was hovering at her side, a blank look on its face.

The mission specifically called for the girl's demise, but something told her the little monster beside her would be the best to destroy. If it really was the one in charge, then she'd be easy enough to take out. If she were the one in charge, she didn't quite seem like it. Fifty-fifty chance of killing the right one-Wave hated those odds.

"Damn, I wish I had back up," the swallow muttered to herself. It wasn't going to happen though-if she were caught, she'd be dead: there was no way they'd've given her back up.

Wind played through the bell tower, a gentle breeze ruffling Wave's feathers. The woman smiled in relief.

"Guide my bullet then, love," Wave said, aiming for the objective target.

It was a sitting target, an easy shot. The problem was getting away without notice afterwords. Wave poised herself, keeping her body as ridged as possible. This sniper's rifle was the best quality and didn't buck anywhere near as much as Emelia did, but it seemed so much more soulless than her shotgun. If the swallow thought she could get away with it, she'd rather have been sniping with the shotgun.

"Wish me luck, Jet," Wave whispered to the wind, letting out all her breath.

As she drew her breath in slowly, she teased the trigger back until it fired. One of the figures down below dropped, and Wave smiled in satisfaction as she withdrew her gun and prepared it for the trip down. It was going to be a long night.

"I hope I'm back in time for the wedding," Wave commented to herself.

Silver slammed his locker shut, smiling up at Tikal.

"Where are we going out for lunch today?" he asked, putting an arm around her waist.

"I don't know," she giggled, "The taco joint?"

"Sure," Silver said, leading the way, "We going Dutch today or no?"

"I'm broke, hon."

"So no?"

Tikal giggled again.

The young couple strode out the doors of their high school, privileged as all the seniors attending to go out to lunch. There was a Taco Bell across the street, so cheep and convenient that it was a shock that it got so little business. Silver and Tikal blamed their lack of business on the snobbish bastards that filled the school.

Dust-on-Wind had had great connections. She had gotten a job for both Knuckles and Rouge, and had housing for all of the survivors prepared almost instantly. Silver had even been offered a car and his own apartment, but he had refused.

That didn't stop the hedgehog from crashing with Knuckles, Rouge, and Tikal, however.

Silver was determined to become an engineer, a programmer, something he was good at. He took all the advanced courses he could, despite his lack of extra-curricular activities. Tikal was the opposite, in all remedial classes with more time spent at the school than most students and teachers-which naturally meant Silver spent as much time at school.

Most people couldn't puzzle it out-what single string attached the two of them together.

No one would guess they were from a city that had been wiped off the map.

Then again, theirs was the type of high school where students would follow a GPS off a cliff without a second thought.

Silver held the door open for Tikal and the two of them walked to the counter together.

"Hey kids, the usual?" the woman asked, flashing them a bright smile.

"Yes, please," Silver said with a return smile.

"That'll be five-fifty-six then."

Silver pulled out a ten and set it down, scooping the change and his cup up. Tikal retrieved her own cup and they sat down together in a booth while they waited for their food.

Lunch arrived shortly, and the two of them chatted about everything and then some as they ate. Tikal rattled on about different spells she was learning while Silver explained different rendering techniques he learned in C++.

They finished their food quickly and headed back to school as soon as they had done so.

"I'm so excited for Saturday," Tikal said as she bounced back to school beside Silver. The young hedgehog smile at her energy.

"Yeah, I think we all are."

"Did you hear Wave's gonna be in town for it?"

"She'd better be," Silver replied, "She's the Maid of Honor."

"True."

"What color are your dresses, anyway?"

"Green and purple," Tikal said, "For... y'know..."

Silver nodded, the smile gone from his face.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate the thought."

"Probably."

"So I'll see you after school then, Silver?"

The hedgehog nodded.

"Yeah. I'll come by your locker," he said.

"Okay then," Tikal let out a little giggle.

"See you then."

Silver gave her a light little kiss on the lips before heading to class.

"Hey love."

Knuckles' head and dreadlocks blocked out the light of the reading lamp as he kissed Rouge.

"Mmm. Hey love. Rough day again?"

"Not as rough as it could be," the echidna replied, slipping into bed next to his wife, "Frankly, I'd rather still be on the streets."

Rouge chuckled.

"You'd still be stuck with shitty customers."

"Mm."

The bat snapped the slim book she was reading closed as she rolled over and put an arm around Knuckles.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a worried look on her face as her fingers played along his chest. The echidna sighed.

"It's the kids," he said.

"Silver and Tikal?"

Knuckles shook his head.

"Blaze and Shadow."

Rouge's head tilted to one side.

"You don't think they'll work?"

"No, that's not it. I think it's a good idea, to be honest. But..."

"But what?"

"I don't know. Something's off."

"Espio?"

Knuckles' face twitched as though he had been hit, and his eyes drifted away from Rouge's. The bat used a wingtip and gently turned his face back to hers.

"I'm sure he'll be watching," she said with a kind smile.

"I don't know..."

Rouge thought a second before saying, "Y'know, Blaze had a good idea that I agree with." She whispered lightly in Knuckles ear. He blinked at her in surprise.

"Really? Who came up with that?"

"Tikal did, actually."

"And she didn't tell me?"

"I think she wanted to surprise you."

"So you told me?" Knuckles gave Rouge a sly smile.

Rouge shrugged. "Act surprised, then."

Knuckles gave a little laugh. "You know my acting can suck."

"Not when you don't want it to." She gave him a kiss on the mouth.

"Are you trying to say something?" Knuckles asked, giving Rouge a wry look.

"Maybe."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Maybe."

Knuckles slipped his hands around Rouge's shoulders and slid them down her back, resting them on her hips.

"Am I going to have to entice an answer out of you?"

Rouge gave a sly smile as she moved her hands so that they cupped Knuckles' skull. She pulled herself so that she was face-to-face with him.

"Maybe."

She kissed him on mouth again.

"Then I guess I've got some work to do," Knuckles replied, his fingers already getting to work along her spine.

There was nothing but bustle, people dashing to and fro like bees from a hive.

Alike to a queen bee, Blaze was hidden in a catacomb of back rooms with Rouge, Tikal, and Wave. The swallow and the echidna wore matching dresses-long, strapless dresses of purple with emerald trim and long, green gloves. The cat's dress was traditional white and matched her figure perfectly.

"Nervous?" Tikal asked with a giggle. Blaze shook her head.

"No, I'm actually not."

Wave gave a chuckle.

"Once you've dealt with the undead, everything else is nothing, huh?"

"Yeah."

Rouge produced an anklet from her bag and looked to Blaze, whose eyes brightened.

"I almost forgot you asked for this," she said with an embarrassed laugh, "Please, I'd like you to wear this."

Blaze took the anklet gingerly and sat down on the couch, where Tikal put it on.

"Knuckles said that's Alexandrite-a rare gemstone."

"He would know, wouldn't he?" the young echidna commented as she rose to her feet.

"Of course," Wave said, sitting down herself and rubbing her foot, "He wouldn't be an ex-thief if he didn't."

A knock sounded on the door, and Knuckles' voice could be heard. "Ladies, it's almost show time. Are you ready?"

"Yes," Blaze said, rising to her feet with Tikal and Rouge's help. Wave slipped her shoe back on and rose, ignoring her slight limp as she hustled after the others.

The bat swept into the sanctuary while the other ladies waited outside.

"I'm glad for you," Wave said as they waited outside the sanctuary and listened to the priestess through the door.

"Thank you," Blaze said, her arm around Knuckles', "I'm sorry I can't ever do this for you." The swallow gave her a bitter smile.

"It's not your fault," she said, "It's not really anyone's. If there was anyone to blame, I'd rather not look for him."

"You'd have to kill him?"

"Horribly."

"Is this really the thing to talk about on your wedding day?" Tikal asked. The two older women laughed.

"I'm sorry, Tikal," Wave said, "It's been a long time."

"Same," Blaze said, before putting her free hand on Wave's shoulder. "Thank you for being my sister."

The swallow grinned.

"Sisters for life, huh? Sounded like a good deal at the time."

"The perks were worth it."

"I've got a messed up family, don't I?" Tikal asked Knuckles. The elder echidna laughed.

"It was one born of adrenaline, blood, and tears-I like it, personally. It suits all of us just a little bit more."

Tikal gave a little smile. "I guess you learn who's best to have by you when you're in a pinch."

"Life-and-death situations will do that," Wave said, "I'd know."

"Wouldn't it be better for it to not come to that?" Tikal asked. Wave shrugged.

"You'd think so."

"Tikal, I chose Shadow because I know he's dependable. Not just in life-or-death situations, but in general. We just met because of that...hellish...couple of days."

"I guess so," Tikal said.

"Time to go," Knuckles said, nudging Blaze a little. The young echidna and swallow strode with measured steps through the door, promptly followed by Blaze and Knuckles.

There was some sort of elegance to their walk, a woman with no family being given away by a man that had nothing but beautiful ladies in his life anymore. Dust-on-Wind presided over the marriage, dressed up in feathers and beads.

Rouge looked up from the nearly empty front row, her eyes meandering from the emerald feathers sticking out of Wave's feathers, to the ruby choker around Blaze's neck, and at the two hedgehog brothers standing in their sharp outfits. Cheese stood at Shadow's feet, the small creature light brown and rabbit-like, adorned in flowers and holding a small pillow with two rings on it.

In each of the chairs next to the bat was a large coin engraved with a name on one side...

And the words 'A beloved family member unwillingly left in a city that doesn't exist' on the other.

* * *

_AN: So now it's done. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed._

_~Lady Spritzy  
_


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